#thsc echo

[bluetorchsky]

THSC OC – You Are Here (And You Are Love) (2/2)

Summary: An inner turmoil digs deep into the soul of one of the Music Enforcers, Accordion. Despite coming back from a successful mission, to him everything still went wrong–and it was all his fault. But does he truly believe that? Or has hauntings of his past finally caught up to him, after recent events made him dig up a question he buried long ago: “Why am I even here?”

Rating: Teen

Genres: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama (slight drama)

Trigger Warnings for Chapter two: Depictions of Physical Abuse, Nightmares (First part of the story), Violence, Self-Deprecation talk, Panic Attacks and Anxiety Attacks (General warning)

Word count for this chapter: 7.4k words

Accordion, Violin, Aurelia, Florence, Vivian, Lucifer, Dr. Clara Life, Dr. Whitespade, Echo, Jingle, Crumb and Morsel belong to me. Every other character is from The Henry Stickmin universe.

Chapter one

(Note: I apologize if this is dialogue heavy, but this is meant to be the dialogue part. Also apologize if the ending is a bit abrupt, Trynna finish this before work)

He imagines a young boy, face smooth and free from any scars and with his limbs still strong and intact. The young boy is curled up into a ball as everything was used to break him. Metal pipes, spiked bats, wooden stakes, nags of bricks, searing stokers prodding every bit of skin uncovered and ripe for marking, and just about anything that would leave a lasting impression on the boy’s body.

It would only stop once the ringleader heard his bones snap and break from the repeated hits. And just when the young boy thought it was all over, the ringleader–a mother he once knew–forced her husband to heal all his wounds so that they may practice the same act again, and again, and again until the rich and greedy things grew tired of the same show he was forced to put on for them.

But this time, the husband refused to heal his son. Instead, he tried to attack the ringleader but instead, he had his cheek carved and sliced by the very blade he once gave her. A small little knife to remember him by; now he would only remember it as a weapon to keep him in line. He was thrown next to the boy and the show resumed. Everything used to break the boy was now being used on him. 

The boy tried to scream, beg, plead for the ringleader to stop but his voice had left him. His throat was raw and strained from the times he tried to hide his screams but it was forced out of him regardless. When a pipe was about to hit him, the boy was quickly pulled into his father’s arms, who absorbed the hard blow to his back. The young boy couldn’t fight back and he had to let himself be held as the show continued on and on for an eternity.

When the curtain fell over them, the father would slowly get up and pick up his son into his arms, despite his own wounds and bruises protesting him to just sleep and never wake up. Somehow he would make it to the boy’s room and place him on his bed, and do his best to heal him before sleep took them into her arms. He was ashamed and guilty for letting this show still go on, but he could not fight the ringleader back. Not on his own anyways.

The boy cried no matter what. He cried when he was brought back to his room and he cried when his father tried to heal him. But it wasn’t just for the pain he was feeling, but he cried for his father too. His father had no more tears left to give, so the boy was his voice to let out the pain and agony he felt. Although the father couldn’t cry, he would take the boy into his arms and lie in bed with him, soothing his own pain with songs and lullabies that brought back a familiar but alien comfort, repeating words that made him relax and close his eyes easier.

Oliver sees the young boy as himself, the husband as his own father, Lucifer, and the ringleader and her crew as his mother, Vivian. Every night, every time he watched this scene unfold, he would take his younger self and father into his own arms, as he became larger and bigger than their home, teeth bared and wings unfurling across the sky as the red scales of his dragon body glistened and shined under the bright moonlight.

He would fly them away into a deep forest and hide them in a house built just for the two of them. And when they could sleep without having to cry, he would go back to that awful place called home and break everything with his claws, fangs, tail, and paws–slam the earth and make the foundation rumble and crack, scream until the glass shards imbedded themselves into the ringleader’s crew, his aunts and uncles, and grab each and every one of those actors and tear them apart in his mouth, savouring each and every scream like a haunted melody. 

And when he closed his eyes one last time, it would all disappear and he was left free falling into the void. No matter how many times he wished he could go back and change what had happened to him, it always ended the same way.

Falling into the maw of the beast that carried the unknown, and letting darkness consume his whole being, the screams and cries of his younger self becoming louder and louder and louder until–

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“Ah, looks like he’s waking up.”

“Oliver!”

“Careful with him, Trent. He’s going to need a lot of rest and time to recover after this.”

“And so do you.”

“But–” 

“I know you’ve been hiding crap from me, ArcCoil. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard just like he has, it is completely irresponsible what the two of you are doing!”

“Oi! Lay off him, will ya?”

Oliver slowly opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times to adjust to the new light shining above him. Looking up at the ceiling before he blinked once more and tried to get up. As he tried to move his arms, he realized he couldn’t feel his hands. He looked down at his body and saw that in addition to not having his prosthetics, he didn’t have his turtleneck on, but he was still wearing his pants. He spotted his prosthetics sitting in a suitcase made for it, right at the end of the bed. His focus was averted when he heard someone’s voice speaking to him.

“We had to remove your prosthetics for now, Oliver. You need to rest, and your body has gone through enough trauma these past few weeks.”

He looked up to his side. Dr. Clara was sitting next to his bed on his right side holding a clipboard in her hands. She was writing down some notes, her red cross earrings shining beneath the room’s lights. Although he can only see part of her face, he could tell that she was upset even if she wasn’t physically showing it.

“I–” He started to say before his throat tightened and he started coughing violently. Immediately, he felt a hand gently push him back against the pillows. It was warm over his chest, a more welcoming feeling that soothed his racing heart. Oliver looked up to his left and his eyes widened. “Trent…”

Now that he was not desperately trying to shake his husband out of his panic attack, Trent looked absolutely awful. His mascara that he applied earlier was now messed up because of his tears, his eyes were completely red from crying and his cheeks stained with tear tracks, and he wasn’t in his usual uniform. He didn’t expect him to be when he saw him again, but it was strange to see him wearing a baggy shirt, yoga pants and without his hat. Oliver squinted his eyes and carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“...You’re wearing one of my shirts.” He murmured looking at him.  

Trent sniffed and wiped his left eye with the heel of his hand. “I know…I’m sorry for taking it.” He said softly.

Before he could try and say something, Dr. Clara cleared her throat to get Oliver’s attention. He looked up and watched her stand up from her chair to stand in front of him and Trent. He was able to look around the room, now realizing it to be his and Trent’s bedroom, and saw the other occupants there. Dr. Whitespade was standing next to the dresser, arms crossed with his usual scowl on his scarred face but his posture was less tense than he usually would be. Near the door, Reginald and RHM were on some chairs they brought in from one of the other rooms. Reginald was busy signing some documents while RHM was watching the couple with a diligent look.

He turned his attention back to Dr. Clara as she looked through her notes on her clipboard. “I will get straight to the point Oliver.” She said in her usual blunt tone. “You have been pushing not only your body to the limit, but your mental state is reaching its limit as well. You have not slept properly, you have not eaten properly, and you have not allowed yourself the relief of just doing nothing to calm your turbulent mind. Am I correct in assuming this?” 

Oliver closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Yes…”

The older female doctor shook her head and let out her own tired sigh. “Why did you not take paternity leave when I told you to?” She asked and gestured back to the chief. “Reginald was willing to give it to you and Trent when the twins were born. And from what I was told, you are still given some sort of monetary compensation while on paternity leave.”

“I…I just wanted to make sure that…” He took in a shuddering breath and lowered his head, trying to hide himself away from everyone. “I just wanted to keep them safe.”

“From what?” RHM asked, raising an eyebrow.

“O-Or from who, n-nyeh?” Reginald asked quietly, gripping his pen tightly in his hand. “You are safe here, Oliver. A-And so is your family. What do you think could possibly hurt you here, nyeh?”

He stayed quiet for a moment before he gave his answer, unsuccessfully hiding his tears. “F-From me…”

The chief and his right hand’s eyes widened, but the doctors were not shocked or surprised by his answer. Trent just stared at Oliver, an unreadable emotion on his face. After a few moments, Dr. Clara moved next to Oliver and gently placed a hand on his right shoulder.

“I don’t know what’s been going on with you recently, but I will make this clear.” She said, gripping his shoulder as her gray eyes burned like a fire. “You are to take paternity leave with Trent. You are to focus and take care of your children. And you must take care of yourself. If you struggle, you must ask for help. This isn’t something you can just do by yourself, Oliver. There are people here who genuinely love and care for your wellbeing. I’ll be damned if they didn’t break down hearing what you’re doing to yourself.”

She stood up again and walked over to her protegee, packing away her things. “That being said, I suggest that you and Trent talk about what has been bothering you both.” She clipped her bag shut and turned to face the couple once more. “I will come back in three days to check up on you and your twins. Am I clear?”

All Oliver and Trent could do was nod at her, too tired to talk and too tired to argue with the woman who had once brought them back from the dead. Something they never really talked about with anyone except with her and Whitespade. Trent carefully leaned against Oliver, careful not to put too much weight on him, his body sagging against the pillows like a doll thrown on the bed, hiding his face from his husband. Although Oliver still wasn’t saying anything, he leaned his head against Trent’s, sniffling as some tears fell with his husband’s hidden tears.

Dr. Clara’s hardened features softened just a little before she turned around and left through the door. Dr. Whitespade waited until he pushed himself off the wall, hands in his pockets, and followed after his mentor.

“Although I am your main doctor, therapy is more of Dr. Clara’s field.” The gruff doctor said. “I will be back with her, but to check on the kids…and talk with your family and friends, should they have any questions at all.”

Once the doctor left, Reginald and RHM stood up and followed suit. But before the chief stepped out of the room, he turned around with his hands clasped together, as if he was making a plea similar to what Matilda had done earlier.

“Oliver, I-I know things have been…rough lately.” Reginald said. “But please know, Right and I are here for you and Trent, should you ever need it. M-My door is always open to you, nyeh. I’m…I’m sorry if I’ve never said it before, but you are truly one of our best Toppats in the clan. You and your husband…”

As he turned to leave, he heard the taller man’s soft, raspy voice call out, “Thank you…for everything…”

Reginald stopped for just a moment before he took in a deep breath and let it go, leaving the room and closing the bedroom door behind him. He adjusted his two top hats and took his cane from Right Hand Man before looking at him. 

“L-Let’s go find the others, nyeh.” He said as he slipped his arm with his. “They’ll need to know w-what’s going on.”

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The two men sat together in silence, unable to come up with anything to say or even know what they should say to the other. Even in the dimly lit bedroom, with a candle that was lit earlier slowly burning on the dresser being one of their only other light sources, they were at a loss for words. 

Oliver didn’t know how long they sat together on their bed, but he knew it was long enough for Trent to leave multiple times to check on the kids. When he was left alone, the few seconds he had to himself, he tried to think of something to say. Apologize to his husband, promise to be a better father for the kids, promise to be a better Toppat for everyone else. There was something he had to say, they couldn’t just keep it all shoved under a rug. He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before–

“There he is, there’s your dada.”

He opened his eyes as soon as he heard the giggling of his children. Trent was holding both Aurelia and Florence in his arms, giving the other man a small smile. As he walked back inside, the two musical devices, Crumb and Morsel followed behind, pushing in the crib from the other room.

“H-How, what?” Oliver voiced and pushed himself up, watching Trent come back to his side of the bed. “The crib, how are they–”

“I just used my magic dear. I’ll put it back when we have to.” Trent responded, settling down next to his husband. He looked down at his kids, who were babbling loudly and looking at Oliver with wide big eyes, and smiled. “I just thought…you wanted to see them after your mission.”

There was a part of him screaming and begging him to not touch the kids. He didn’t have his arms, how could he hold them properly, how could he even hug them? They would be freaked out by his lack of arms, they would run away from him, they would scream and scream–

“The only thing they want from you is to feel safe and loved. You will have plenty of time to explain about your arms, but there is more time for them to love you for who you are, my son.”

Oliver blinked and tilted his head to the side, listening to the calm and deep voice. “I…you’re right…” He mumbled before he looked back up at Trent. Still not trusting himself to say anything, he nodded at him.

Despite the turmoil that the two of them were going through, the harmony of their magic still let them communicate in their own way. Carefully, Oliver moved towards his right giving Trent enough space to place both Aurelia and Florence on the bed, laying them on their stomachs. The babies cooed and rolled back and forth from their stomach to their backs, before looking up at Oliver with wide-eyed curious faces. In just seconds, Aurelia cried happily and loudly and pushed herself closer to her father. 

Oliver grunted when he felt his daughter headbutt him in the side, making him chuckle for the first time that day. “Careful, my little music note.” He said to her, moving to lay on his side to face his twins better. “You don’t want to hurt yourself or your brother, hm?”

She only giggled and scooted herself more forward, leaning her entire small weight against his chest. Florence followed after his sister, giggling the entire way, and pressed himself against his father’s chest, curling up right next to his sister and grabbed her hand with his.

He felt their combined vibrations on his chest as he watched their unconditional love for one another, and suddenly he was choking back his tears. Oliver tried to cover his face into the pillows, but Trent reached over and gently placed his hand on his cheek, the side where most of it was scarred. Without saying another word, Oliver blinked and let his tears fall, one after the other, and curled up some more while being careful of the babies. He sobbed quietly, letting Trent brush away each and every tear that fell while he looked at his husband with a somber look.

Oliver could sense the way his lover was looking at him, but he could also tell his children were looking at him with confused looks. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and let it go, before he started to sing a lullaby to the twins.

It was a lullaby he remembered his father sang to him, a song about a young child walking hand in hand with their parents, telling them every single thing they loved about them. The twins struggled to keep their eyes open and keep listening to their father’s soothing voice, but as soon as their other father joined in, singing the parents’ verse about every single thing they loved about their child, both Aurelia and Florence yawned together and closed their eyes, lulled to sleep by their fathers’ harmony once more. 

Once they were finished, Trent carefully picked up the twins once more and placed a kiss on their foreheads each. He looked up at his husband, smiling a little. Oliver still wasn’t sure but he still pushed himself up and leaned forward, placing his own kisses on their foreheads each. Before he pulled away, he whistled out a few notes softly. The music notes, as big as the babies’ heads, combined together to create two pairs of ear muffs. Each pair was carefully placed on the sleeping baby, both unbothered by the action.

After Trent got the twins settled back into their crib, he looked over at the two magical musical devices and their pets. “Thank you, all of you for watching over them.” He said, reaching down to rub the top of Crumb’s head. “Go and rest, you’ve earned it.”

Echo and Jingle breathed their own sighs of relief and waddled over to the dresser. They both helped each other up to the top before settling into a “sleep” mode, grateful for the time to recharge. As for the two pets, Crumb wrapped herself around one of the crib’s legs and made herself comfortable, while Morsel walked over to his friend and sat next to her, snoozing away as soon as she fell asleep.

With everyone in the room, aside from them, now resting, both fathers looked at each other. Through their intertwined magic, there were many, many unspoken questions floating around them, and they were both unsure of where to begin. But there was one that Trent needed to know the answer or answers to.

Trent carefully laid on his side of the bed and looked at Oliver with a troubled look. “When I tried to call you and Morsel answered it for you, I…I heard you talking to someone.” He started, a waver in his voice as he tried to hold himself together. He swallowed before asking, “Who were you talking to, Oliver?”

That was one question he didn’t want to answer first, but it was better than asking him the one he thought he would ask. Oliver propped himself up one more time, turning to his husband as he did. “I…I was talking to my parents. To my mom and my dad…Mostly shouting at mom to stop saying the things she was saying…”

Trent’s brown eyes widened before they softened, holding himself back from crying. “Oh, Ollie. When did you start hearing their voices?”

“A-After our argument, three weeks ago.” Oliver frowned sadly as he brought his knees up and he pressed his forehead against them. “I knew I should have gone to the Medbay and spoken with one of the doctors, or even called Whitespade about what was happening. But I couldn’t…I couldn’t fight back against whatever she was saying…I couldn’t because she was right…”

“Don’t say that.” Trent reached out to Oliver, a hand on his shoulder and a hand on his upper arm. “Please, don’t say that. Whatever that voice was telling you, it’s not true.”

Oliver just shook his head, refusing to look at Trent. “I kept doing the missions to get away from you and the kids, because I knew I was going to hurt them badly!” He said back, his voice laced with more of his tears. “I’m just going to hurt them, Trent. I couldn’t even feed one of them properly, I could have messed up and drowned him with the formula. I had to have Caly help me feed them, and she’s uncomfortable with handling baby stuff! I’m just an inconvenience…”

Trent frowned and sat right next to Oliver, the movement actually pushing Oliver off the bed for a moment. With his head up, Trent reached out and forced Oliver to look at him, both of his hands holding his face.

“If she was uncomfortable, why did she still help you? She could have called for Matilda or even Geoffrey, but she still stayed and helped you. She put aside her own needs to help you with yours, because she probably knew you were scared.” Trent said. “I was scared too, I was afraid of hurting our own children, but I managed to get over that fear. Because of you.”

He blinked. “Me?”

“Yes.” Trent breathed, letting his shoulders shake before he gently pressed his forehead against Oliver’s, continuing in a soft voice, “Because when I was pregnant, you always comforted me when I needed it. You reassured me that I would be a wonderful father to our kids, because I enjoy and love taking care of the Toppat kids. You were patient with me when I was emotional, when I was angry, when I was depressed, when I was just all over the place–You withstood everything I said and did. And you could have left at any point–yet you are still here with me. Here you are, worried about me, worried about your kids, worried about our clan, you thought it would be better to just hide your feelings and needs. But it isn’t better.”

Oliver pulled out of Trent’s grasp, gently, before he looked down at the bed sheets, wishing to grip them as hard as possible. “But, you said I’m not doing enough.”

“And that was wrong of me to say. It was wrong of me to say that to you, especially with what was troubling you.” Trent said. “In the time you needed me to support you, just like you did for me, I instead brought you down and made you feel like you couldn’t do anything. That anything you did wasn’t enough, but it is enough. You’re always enough to me, Oliver. Everything you do, I know you always try to do your best. You always give your everything to help those around you. You didn’t need to hear me say that, especially when you needed my help. I am so sorry, luv, I am so sorry Oliver. I shouldn’t have lost myself like that…”

Trent wiped away his tears, as he sobbed and cried, finally letting his own reservoir drain of its water. How long he had been holding back, even he wasn’t so sure. As he rubbed his wet cheek with his hand, he hiccuped when he felt something push underneath his chin and into his neck.

He looked down with a small gasp and saw the back of his husband’s head, only being able to see his long black hair and his back. Trent slowly wrapped his arms around Oliver, leaning his head forward to rest on top of Oliver’s. “Luv…”

Oliver looked up at him, silent in his contemplation. Then, he asked, “Why did you lash out at me? Did…Did I really do something wrong?”

His husband sighed, frowning sadly. “No, no you didn’t do anything wrong, Oliver. I was just…I was just upset, but not at you.” He explained as he started to thread his fingers through his husband’s long, black hair with a soft hum. “After the first night we came back with the twins, I still wasn’t feeling like myself. Both physically and mentally. I still felt tired, I kept having these bad migraines that didn’t help with the kids waking up in the middle of the night, and my emotions were just…I just didn’t feel right.”

Oliver hummed, moving to the side a bit so he wasn’t putting his whole weight on Trent. “I remember how you were feeling. It always felt like ice being dropped down the back of my shirt. Sometimes it’s a nice feeling, but other times I don't want to feel it.” He frowned a little. “But I don’t blame you for how you felt. I knew having to go back and forth from our room to the Medbay was difficult and exhausting.”

“That still doesn’t excuse what I said to you. Or how I texted you earlier today. I don’t blame you for being annoyed with me with the last few texts you sent.”

Oliver grimaced and closed his eyes. “I-I wasn’t annoyed…I was scared.” He took in a breath, shakily with a sob, before releasing it. “I was scared that you…that you were going to stop loving me, because I came back later than I should have…and because I kept doing the missions instead of being with you and the kids.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Trent continued to run his fingers through Oliver’s hair, sometimes humming a note or two, while Oliver let out small sobs as more of his tears fell. He didn’t realize how much he had been holding back until today, and he felt anger towards himself for not realizing it.

“You do tend to hide your emotions better than others, but that does come with the side effect of not being able to open up easily. You allow others to open up to you, but you must give yourself that same opportunity.”

“...To open myself up to others?”

“Precisely. You deserve the same kindness you give to others, my son.”

Oliver blinked. Part of him hoped he wasn’t going crazy from hearing what he believed what he thought was his father’s voice, but another part of him knew this was just his way to cope with everything he was feeling; a small part of him was relieved to hear his father’s voice ever since he heard of the news of what happened to him.

He moved his focus away from his thoughts back to his husband’s movement. His ears perked up when he listened to what he was softly humming. It made Oliver giggle and press his head against his chest with a small smile. This caught Trent’s attention, who opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at his husband. 

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

Oliver shook his head. “Not funny. More of…more that I love it when you do this.” He said softly.

“Do what?”

“When you play with my hair like a harp, and you sing one of your favorite songs when you do so.” He said, looking up at him with adoration. “It’s one of my favorite things you do, and…I really appreciate it when you hold me like this…”

If Trent’s heart could burst out of his chest to show his love for his partner, it definitely would have happened at this moment. Instead, he pulled Oliver closer to him and kissed the top of his head, hugging him as best he could. “You do the same for me when I need it, so I always want to return that love you show to me.” He said, reaching down to caress Oliver’s face. “I love you, Oliver. I’m so sorry again for how I’ve been treating you these past few weeks. It wasn’t fair to you, or the kids, so I’m going to make sure this won’t happen again.”

Oliver was quiet for a moment before he sat up and moved closer to his husband. “It’s okay, Trent.” He said, wrapping his stubs around Trent’s neck while he pressed his forehead against his. “I do still feel hurt from what happened, but now I know why it did happen. I’ll help you work on it, so you don’t feel like you have to hide it.” He sighed, moving away so their eyes could meet. “But I am sorry for staying quiet about how I was really feeling. I should have trusted you more to listen to what I had to say, especially if it was really hurting me. I know we need time apart after we’ve had an argument, but it shouldn’t have been this long. I’ll…I’ll make sure to work on being more open with how I’m feeling with you.”

Trent smiled at him. “I forgive you, luv.” He said smiling, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “I know you have trouble with your emotions, especially the ones that are very personal with you, but I will help you work on that.” He pulled Oliver into a hug, resting his head on his right shoulder. “ No matter what, we’re in this together, singing from one song to the other–”

“–Until the end of our melodies have been sung.” Oliver finished, squeezing his husband back as best he could. He let out a shaky sigh of relief, sniffling. “I love you too, Trent.”

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, humming a melody together and letting their magic intertwine once again. This time, Trent’s eyes opened when he felt something was off.

“Oliver…The mission that you were on…” Trent started before he sighed, pulling out of the hug. “That mission you were just on, it was what caused your breakdown, wasn’t it?”

Oliver silently nodded, looking the other way while trying to hide himself away from his husband. But remembering what they had just promised, he turned back to his husband and nodded over to the end of the bed.

“I’ll tell you…but can you help put my prosthetics back on?” He let out a sigh. “I…I want to hold your hand when I tell you.”

Trent smiled with a nod. “Of course, dear. Anything for you.”

It took a few minutes for the husbands to get Oliver’s arms back, but when they were finished Oliver was ready to tell Trent about the mission. As ready as he’ll ever be at least.

Trent laid back down on the bed, propping the pillows up behind him so he was a bit more comfortable. Oliver followed after him, after putting on one of Trent’s shirts, and laid on his back over Trent’s body. The short-haired man hummed as he let his husband get comfortable in-between his legs and rest his head on his chest. His left hand reached down to grasp Oliver’s left, while his right hand started running his fingers through his hair again. Oliver’s right hand joined his left hand in holding Trent’s hand, gripping it tightly.

Oliver closed his eyes and leaned his cheek against Trent’s, a somber frown on his face. “The mission did go well but what happened earlier made me question if…if I’m still cut out for this or not…”

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He had been tasked with freeing the Toppats captured by the Government, while another part of his team took back the items that they had stolen from the Government and from the museums. Everyone followed him, Kabbitz, Hanz and Sledge to do their respective duties, and Accordion became the prime example of what a Toppat should be doing on a mission to get back their stolen goods, and their colleagues. 

He fought through hoards of soldiers as he freed one Toppat after the other, pushed back against wave after wave of officers trying to slow him and the others down, and weaved and dodged every attempt by a soldier to catch him. He was too lithe, fast, elusive for them to grab, which stumped and stunned many soldiers, veterans and fresh meat alike. He was a giant compared to the others, how could they avoid him every time?!

Through the chaos that unfolded, the gunfire and bullets dancing over their heads, the desperate pleas to their commander passed down from one body to the next, Accordion felt nothing for these people. He felt nothing for the people he threw to the ground or against the walls by his own metal hands, never flinched by brittle and strong bones being broken and crushed by his fingers, every one of them curled around limb after limb. It was all another song sung by different artists of one company, but he still knew the lyrics by heart as it kept him going, kept him focused and sane as he fought for his fellow Toppats’ freedom. 

It kept him from remembering what happened before he was teleported off the station and onto Earth. It kept him from thinking about his husband and his kids, and what he might accidentally do if he stayed for even one more minute around them. He never wanted any harm to happen to them, especially if it came from him…

His mission came to a full sudden stop, a record scratch in an empty room that bounced and echoed off the stone prison walls. Accordion had paid no attention when he broke the bars to the last remaining cell, the Toppat squeaking out a high-pitched ‘thank you!’ before he turned around and grabbed one of the artists sneaking up behind him. He slammed the artist–it’s a soldier, goddamnit–against the wall, the back of their head hitting a particular patch that was jagged and sharp. Blood ran down the wall, being absorbed by the rocky surface and letting it stay still forever as a stain, and down the back of the soldier’s neck. Even as it stained his dark blue gloves, Accordion started to close his hand around their frail thin neck, their dog tags jingling noiselessly to their quickened heartbeat.

Before he could mark a remark, snarl or even taunt the soldier, to make them remember in their afterlife the face of who would kill them, the soldier whimpered out a line with the last of the oxygen stored in their lungs, mustering a plea familiar to his ears.

“P-Please…please have mercy. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what I’ve d-done! I’m so sorry!” 

He froze, time stopping between the two of them. Those words, that voice, the tune…Those weren’t the lyrics to the song of the chaos going on. Those words…a song buried a long time ago, bridges burned and a new life started…those were his words to his own song.

“Please…please have mercy mom! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Accordion took a step back, dropping the injured soldier as he did. As the soldier groaned and sputtered back to his second chance of life, Accordion’s eye caught the single gold bar, lined with blue, stitched on the left shoulder of the soldier’s jacket. His attention traveled up to the face hidden by the shadow of his beret until the soldier’s young eyes caught his own.

The Toppat’s entire face, having been numb and static throughout the entire duration of that chaos, contorted into one of horror and recognition. The slow creep of realizing what he had done to this soldier, what he had almost done to them, suddenly washed over his entire being. 

“Accordion! ACCORDION!” 

Kabbitz’s angered but panicked voice couldn’t stop him from kneeling down and moving the soldier’s shoulder, gently, to try and look at their face to see if he did recognize them. Every soldier he had faced was different, but this one, yes, yes he did know this one. This one was very recent. They kept showing up at these missions to prove himself to his commander, to prove he had enough worth to serve his country and to his General. And now, as he moved his bloodied glove away from their body, this soldier was still trying to stand and fight, feeling his want and hope to be recognized as a worthy soldier. As a worthy person to live.

But he was not just a soldier. No, to Accordion he was the twin of another soldier that always joined him in these missions. Twins that he had grown to recognize as the pair they were, and as their own individuals. Twins that he had…developed a soft spot for…

He couldn’t bring himself to end this soldier’s song, to cut off the harmony between him and his brother. Not when the song of his past started to overtake and whisper into his ear the verses, the bridges, and chorus of a life he tried to leave behind–

“ACCORDION WE HAVE TO GO NOW!”

Kabbitz had broken through one of the prison walls to reach him, and his voice, booming over every sound in the hallway, finally broke through the other enforcer’s thoughts. He freed himself from the spot he put himself in, but it didn’t stop the tears falling down his cheeks like heavy rain drops. When they started falling he wasn’t sure, but it was enough for the soldier lying in pain on the ground to stop moving and look up in shock. His orange eyebrows creased in disbelief and the corners of his lips pulled down in a frown, but his eyes showed a sliver of concern for his enemy.

Before he could reach out or even utter a word, the tall Toppat in red vanished in the blink of an eye. Although he couldn’t see him, he could hear his heavy footsteps race down the hallway, fading from his earshot as another pair of footsteps ran towards him from the opposite end.

─────────────────

“I-I don’t know why I let him go, I don’t know why I didn’t try to kill him” Oliver sputtered, fresh tears running down his cheeks. “B-But he just…his face reminded me of me when I was younger, when mom beat me for failing at anything she asked me to do. And at that moment…I t-truly felt like I was her. A-And I just…just–”

His throat closed up and he closed his eyes, letting out a whimper and hurtful moan. He wanted to keep talking, to keep saying what was on his mind, but everything he had felt before had returned. His self-hatred for becoming like his mom, for failing at one simple task that wasn’t even asked of him, for letting his emotions control him when they weren’t supposed to–

“You feel like a failure.” Trent finished for him, eyebrows furrowed as he could feel his partner’s self-loathing soaking into his skin. He moved some of Oliver’s hair from his face, humming. “But you’re not a failure, Oliver. You told me he has a twin brother, right?”

“R-Right…”

“And now that we have Aurelia and Florence, part of you didn’t want to kill him because of how his own brother would feel, right?”

He was silent for a moment before he looked up and nodded at Trent. “They don’t like being apart from each other, no matter what…”

Trent reached down to press his hand against his husband’s cheek. “Then letting him live doesn’t make you a failure, Oliver. It makes you human, it makes you someone who still finds compassion for his enemy, especially if they are new to their jobs.” He said in a soothing voice, rubbing his thumb against his cheek. “Yes, he may have been part of the Government, but knowing you didn’t kill him makes me happy, luv.”

Oliver sniffed and rubbed his nose with his hand. “How come?”

“Because it means that no matter what, your love still pushes through the cold and hard barriers you put up. Maybe sometimes you do have to hold back your love to do what is right for the clan, but you know when to show mercy for those who don’t deserve your hatred. Your mother never did any of that. But your father did what he could to spare you from her hands. Even if it wasn’t enough, he still tried to help you because he still loved you.”

Oliver pondered over his words with a hum, his left thumb rubbing against the back of Trent’s hand. “So…you’re saying I’m not like her…but I’m more like my dad?”

Trent tilted his head, humming back. “I guess so. But you have done more than what he could, despite the setbacks you’ve faced. I’m sure he would be proud of that.”

“I’m always proud of you no matter what, Oliver.” The soft and gentle deep voice spoke in his mind. As it started to fade away, the voice gave its final words to him. “Do what you must do to protect your family, friends, and your clan. But never let yourself fall into your hatred. Your love is much more powerful than you know. I love you, Oliver, my son. Please…take care of yourself.”

The taller man closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief and smiled as tears fell down his cheeks. “I will dad…” He mumbled to himself, squeezing Trent’s hand in his.

His husband smiled softly and he leaned down to place another kiss on top of his forehead. “There is one thing you should know, my luv.” He said quietly, a glint in his brown eyes. “Something that has always drawn me to you, no matter what.”

Oliver snorted, opening his eyes. “Was my good looks not enough?” He asked with a smirk. “Or was me fumbling my way through life and making a bunch of mistakes too much?”

Trent chuckled. “No, you silly goose!” He said. He leaned back and got Oliver to sit next to him. As he did, he leaned his head on his left shoulder, intertwining their fingers together. 

“You know I love you for everything you are.”

“Mistakes and all?”

“Mistakes and all.”

Oliver blinked, tilting his head. “I love you for who you are as well, Trent. Mistakes and all.” He said. “But, why are you telling me this in this way?”

“Because to me, you are love, Oliver. You are the love that I am drawn to each and every day, you are the love that other people seek out when they need it, and you let them in with open arms, no hesitation. You give your love to those who need it, and they give it back to you in their own special way.” He said and reached up to place his hand over his husband’s chest. “And, forgive me if this is so cheesy, I’m proud to call you my home. My home is made up of love, and it is made of your love and mine.”

As Trent closed his eyes, he suddenly felt Oliver’s shoulders shaking. He opened his eyes and looked up, watching his husband taking rapid breaths as he started to cry loudly, tears falling faster than a rapid waterfall. Before he could do anything, Oliver pulled him close into a tight hug, burying his face into the crook of his neck.

“Thank you…thank you, Trent.” He stuttered with a smile. “That means…everything to me…You and everyone else mean everything to me…I love you so much.”

Trent hugged him back, smiling as his own tears started falling in time with his husband’s. “I love you too, Oliver.” He whispered back.

The two husbands stayed close to each other, letting sleep take them away into their dreams, knowing they would have time to help each other fix what needed to be fixed. Not just for themselves, but for their kids, family, friends, and co-workers. It was a life of their own that was just getting started after all.

─────────────────

(Epilogue: Coming Soon)

[androidcharles]

When you got time to do this of course, take your time– How about Amelia hanging out with Echo and Jingle?

They're all together playing a CC in the AM song! Sing along! -insert lyrics here-

REQUESTS ARE STILL CLOSED!!!!! FOR NOW!!!!

[thsc-stuffs]

Echo and Jingle, when freed from their prison magical dimension, they waddle over to the couple and nudge them so they can play whatever song they want. And probably stare at whatever shiny thing Remus or Riella is holding.

Accordion and Violin go looking for them and find them playing music for R&R with a pile of shinies in front of them like an offering. Riella is also very easily distracted by shiny things and is very happy to show them off to this strange duo of sweet little magic... er. Machines? Creatures? What do Echo and Jingle even count as?

[annashadowstar]

I think Lay will love them. They are actually pretty cute, in my opinion. Can’t wait to know more about them.

Echo and Jingle - @bluetorchsky

Lay Copperbottom - me

[wololo-01]

★*Hello dear and welcome to my blog!! *★

__________________

I AM A MINOR!!!

🌙ೃ

You call dream, Sky or wolo (you can also call me whatever you want, As long as it's NOT disrespectful)

🌙ೃ

Use Any Pronouns!

🌙ೃ

I Am A Brazilian Artist Who Does Not Have A Defined Style And Is Still Learning!

🌙ೃ

This Whole Blog Is A Complete Mess So Don't Mind About My Mess And Stuff I Draw Or Reblog!!

🌙ೃ

I Stupid And VERY Bad in conversations(aka anxious), So If I Take A Long Time To Understand Or Responds Something That You DM Or Told Me, I deeply apologize..

🌙ೃ

Multifandom (But I mostly Post here About THSC Here and Maybe Little Bit of Something Else but who knows lol.)

🌙ೃ

Remember That Since English Is NOT My Fist Language, I Use the Translator to talk and To write sometimes so please Forgive Me If I Say Something Wrong Or I Misunderstood Something, you can always correct me if something like that happens!!

🌕 ✩ೃ

Art Requests are close!!

Asks are still open!!

ABOUT THE ART REQUEST: I WON'T draw NFSW, Horror and a maybe light gore are okay (But it will depend) And also, i only accept request from fandoms That I am (Thsc) I will also may take a bit (or too long) to finish your request since I focusing on other things (on irl) and other Drawings

I just doing art request for fun so please don't pressure me cuz it's will only make me It takes longer (which I don't want to happen)

Extra: if you want me to draw your oc, make sure to give some reference of it, and also This applies to any art request: be sure to be specific in your request Please!, bcuz I'm can accidentally not get what you mean and do the wrong thing.

🌙ೃ

My twitter

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My tags: #WOLOLOart, #WOLOLOstuffts, WOLOLOvideos, WOLOLOwips

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My ocs!!

Mittie (I gonna make her own post Abt her I swear 😭)

Mrs. Water and julio

Astor

Daniel

Abigail

Agnia (I also gonna a post tell more about her ._.)

Mateo (OLD BACKSTORY)

Dr. rumi

Solara (OLD BACKSTORY)

Echo & ramone

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OCS birthday

DNI NSFW/PROSHIPPER/ RACIST /LGBTQFOBIC/ TRANSPHOBIC AND ANY PROBLEMATIC ACCOUNT NONE OF YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!!!!!

(also if you support this kinds of account and people, get out of here cuz you not welcome here too)

[leguichettravel]

Day 6:

For this scenario, I have decided to draw Pvt. Teemu Suomi from the Echo 1 squadron, callsign [Echo 1-5].

After seeing many unheard trivia about him about how's he connected to the Finnish nationality in the THSC wiki, I'd decided to distinguish him by putting the Finland 🇫🇮 flag patch to his helmet.

Here's the prompt:

[pheeperthemeeper]

Drew some fan art of the scene with the River person from valiant souls by @knightmareaceblue because I love the River person and I love valiant souls!! nwn

[androidcharles]

I'm stuck at work too! So while I wait until I'm no longer trapped at work, here's Amelia being completely confused at Echo 🤣

Echo belongs to @bluetorchsky

[thsc-stuffs]

*falls in* I've shown the designs for Echo and Jingle. How would Remus and Riella react to them? (they both use they/them and it/its)

I'll be honest Riella would probably scream in utter terror and jump onto Remus, only to wind up doting lovingly over them once the shock wears off. She'd rapidly grow to adore them! She'd treat them very gently, and would be more than happy to indulge in almost any request from them. Riella is a sucker for anything vaguely cute, okay, she'll spoil them rotten.

Remus would probably continue to be very wary of them, for not much reason beyond just "these things are Strange and dog brain doesn't like them", but he wouldn't be outright terrified or hateful or anything like that! He'd be reluctant to touch them and not talk much with them, but Riella's coaxing and excitement will eventually bring him around. They'd likely be told to tone down the volume pretty often around him, though.

[jaytoons7]

I'm speechless! This made me feel so many emotions at once! I loved it so much!

The Breaking Point (THSC)

What happens when you put an overly stressed head chef in charge of a special dinner event, and add in people trying to help them but not fully understanding their problems?

A dinner rush straight out of Hell, and a realization for the head chef that sometimes, at the end of everything, you must hold on to anything.

Words: 16k+ (Long and heavy, happy ending, bittersweet epilogue)

Rating: Teen (lots of swearing)

Tw: Nightmares, physical and emotional abuse mention, lots of shouting and physical fighting, blood (someone gets stabbed), intentional misgendering, self-depreciation talk, and suicidal thoughts/talk. And crying. Lots of crying..

Scottie Anderson, Jay Benson, Ulle Meadows and Crusher (mentioned) belong to @jaytoons7

Danny Felizima belongs to @capturecharlesau

Accordion, Violin, Calypso Bells, Alfonso Vert, Captain Oasis, Dr. Whitespade (mentioned), Echo and Jingle belong to me.

—————

Calypso’s P.O.V.

The Toppat Orbital Space Station slowly drifted on its course around the Earth, bringing part of the bright, blue and green planet into view for the Toppats dining in the Cafeteria that day. As the those eating and drinking admired the view of Earth, no matter how many times they went around it, they were oblivious to the chaos that was happening in the main kitchen.

While the bartender, Calypso, served the drinks to her customers, she kept an ear out to the main kitchen. Through all the pots and pans clanging against the stoves or counters, through the sounds of drawers and cupboards being flung open and hands shuffling inside for cooking utensils, the loudest sound that she could hear was the head chef’s angry footsteps, the cursing under their breath, and all the shouting they were giving out to every kitchen member that crossed their paths. Mostly against Danny and the trio of new waiters that he had, somehow, taken under his wing: Pasta Primavera, Figaro Mulligatawny and Parmezza Lasagne.

They called themselves the Pasta Boys and had said something about Italians and mobsters needing to stick together. She didn’t understand it and neither did Danny. But the kitchen crew did need the extra help that they could get. Because tonight, the Space Station Division had invited the Marine Division onboard for a day tour, ending off the day with a big dinner that the head chef, Danny, and Calypso had to plan. She took care of the drinks, Danny took care of setting up the Cafeteria into a more suitable room, and the head chef took care of the menu. With their skills combined, tonight was going to go smoothly.

Calypso sighed, placing the glass she just cleaned underneath the counter and closed her eyes. “It’s not going to go smoothly…”

—————

Earlier that day around the Breakfast Rush, Calypso and Danny were discussing their thoughts about the Marine Division.

“I-I don’t know, I never really thought about working under the ocean.” Danny said quietly, scrubbing a plate clean in the sink. He had just served her some freshly baked croissants while she had made him a coffee with some Barley’s in it. He shivered, but not from the cold water splashing against his arms. “It’s kind of creepy when you think about it.”

“I think it would be like trying to ride a wild horse into traffic. Unpredictable and easy to kill you if you don’t know it like the back of yer hand.” Calypso commented, spitting into a bucket before pulling the coffee pot out from its machine and poured it into his cup, mixing in some of the alcohol into it.

Danny scrunched up his face, sticking his tongue out. “Per favore, don’t relate it to a wild horse.” He said, pretending to gag. “I don’t want to think of a submarine shooting around the water with no control, much less a sea boat which I can’t even stand in!”

“D’aw, does my poor Italian man need some help riding it?” Calypso teased, reaching through the window, and tapping his shoulder with her knuckles lightly. “The offer is still up, y’know!”

He laughed and pushed her hand away with a smile. “Keep trying, you crazy woman!” He said, teasing back. “You’ll never catch me on a horse or a boat–”

The kitchen doors suddenly slammed opened, causing Danny to yelp and crouch down in fear. He dropped the plate he had been holding and it crashed onto the floor, breaking into many, many small pieces. The waiter tried to grab the pieces while being careful, just as the person who walked through the doors turned to him with a scowl.

“Danny, how many times do I HAVE TO FUCKING TELL YOU, STOP DROPPING THE PLATES?!” Scottie yelled and pulled out a knife that was inside their chef jacket. They held it up to him, snarling. “Hurry up and fix up your mess! We don’t have all day!”

“That’s enough!” Calypso yelled through the window before moving away from it and entering the kitchen, the door banging against the wall as she did. She walked up to the head chef and jammed her finger into their chest. “This is no time for you to be yelling foul when Danny didn’t mean it! We were just finishing up our breakfast, what’s the fuss all about?!”

Scottie pushed Calypso’s arm away from them and pointed the knife at her, growling. “The fuss is that I’ve got more mouths to feed tonight! That stupid Marine captain leader, whoever they are, just told Reginald they’re bringing in two more platoons to the Space Station!”

Calypso glared down at the chef, forcing back the anger that was building inside her. “Scottie, we planned for this, Captain Oasis even gave us a heads up about it a few days ago!” She said, gesturing to the wall that had the night’s plan pinned to the wall. Inventory, allergens, recipes for the dishes and drinks–their cooking bible was all there where they needed it to be. “They even said that what we make, they’ll just have it since they’re going to be a last-minute addition!”

“It. Still. MESSES WITH TONIGHT’S PLANS!” Scottie yelled and stomped their foot, grabbing their hair with both hands. “Now I have to start cooking earlier than expected, I need to cut up more ingredients, get more meat out of the freezers and have them be edible tonight–It’s going to be too much!”

She was aware of the Pasta Boys helping Danny to his feet and cleaning up the broken pieces, hearing their jumbled thoughts about the attitude that Scottie was giving to their two best staff members. Calypso also heard Danny’s curse whispering more “what-ifs” to him, but he was already drinking the coffee laced with Barley’s to drown out the annoying voice. Danny gasped after he finished the drink, wiping his mouth against his sleeve, before clearing his throat.

“S-Scottie, come on. I can get these boys started on those ingredients. T-They could also use the practice too.” Danny said, leaning against the counter on his side, trying to keep a smile on his face while battling the curse’s voice within him, telling him to just stab the head chef with their own knife already. All three of the Pasta Boys looked at each other before looking at Scottie, nervous smiles on their faces.

“F-For sure, boss! Nessun problema!” Pasta said and held two thumbs up. “W-We got this, as you, uh, Americans say it, in the bag!”

“I’m fucking Irish.” Scottie said with a hard stare, gripping the handle of their knife tightly.

Figaro hid behind Pasta, while Parmezza approached Scottie with both of his hands clasped. “Ah, don’t mind them, boss.” He said with a smile, holding one hand out to Scottie. “And hey, I can totally understand what you’re feeling right now too. It’s a stressful day, and everything must be perfect. I could also help with–ACK!”

Calypso and Danny gasped as Scottie pulled Parmezza down by his tie to their eye level, slightly choking him as they pulled the knife up to their neck.

“Don’t. EVER. Say that to me again.” They said quietly in a sharp tone. Scottie pulled on their tie again, shouting, “YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?!”

“Scottie, that’s enough!” Calypso cried, pulling the head chef away from the young waiter-in-training, who quickly ran back to Danny and hid behind him, while rubbing his neck. The female bartender managed to pull the knife out of Scottie’s hand and toss it onto the counter, glaring at them. “Take a goddamn walk before you blow your top off at us! We can’t have you losing your cool when the rush starts!”

“Excuse me?!”

“I said, GO!” Calypso shouted, pointing at the double doors. “And come back when you’ve cleared your mind!”

A heavy silence fell over the kitchen, with only the soft thuds of Danny hitting the side of his head against a nearby cupboard. It wasn’t enough to hurt himself, as he was still trying to quiet the curse’s voice in his head, but just enough so he could hold out to get Calypso’s help. And not totally freak out the trio of his trainees that were still hiding and shaking behind him.

Finally, Scottie let out a strangled shout and left the kitchen, slamming the doors open once more, causing one of the circular windows to crack from the force they had used to push it open.

Calypso finally let out the breath she had been holding, feeling a bit shaken from what she had done. She hadn’t said it and she hoped her face hadn’t given it away, but when she pulled the knife out of Scottie’s hand, she used her powers to get a glimpse into their mind. And she had almost gagged at what flashed inside her head. An image from what she could only describe as a nightmare, seeing a younger version of Scottie trying to crawl away from a man who held a ruler above them. They were crying and begging the man to stop, but the ruler came back down on them again, the image disappearing from her mind as soon as the ruler made contact with the younger Scottie. Calypso grimaced, her own memories of being abused brought up for a moment. She knew that kind of punishment too well and judging from how Scottie begged, this probably happened to them too many times when they were still with their old family, something she only knew of when Slice had accidentally let it slip during one of their conversations. Scottie hated talking about their past, but she didn’t know why.

The bartender shook her head and sighed, holding her face in her hand. “Goddesses, let this be a good day…” She muttered under her breath before she snapped her head up when she heard shouting coming from outside the kitchen.

Calypso ran out of the room and stopped at her bar counter, holding the side of it as she saw what happened. Or at least, the aftermath of what had just happened.

Scottie was yelling at both Ulle and Jay, seemingly more at Ulle, while the shorter heist planner was yelling back at Scottie. Although Calypso couldn’t understand it, she could at least tell that Scottie wasn’t too happy to be bothered by them. At their feet laid a cake, smashed to the ground with bits and pieces of it staining the carpet they had just put out the other day. From the icing letters Calypso could read, she could see it said, “Good Luck Tonight Scottie!”

When Scottie finally left the duo and walked out of the Cafeteria, Ulle fell to her knees and openly cried her heart out. Jay knelt next to her, trying to comfort her, but Calypso could tell that they were struggling to hold back their own tears.

The bartender heard shuffling at the large window between the bar and the kitchen, and the kitchen door opening again. The Pasta Boys looked at her and the scene from the window, while Danny hiccupped and stood by Calypso’s side, holding the empty coffee mug.

“Cazzo…” Danny muttered and looked over at Calypso, grabbing a purple mug from the shelf and held it out to her, which she took without saying anything. “I think you and the boys are going to need a drink too…”

She nodded, sighing and rubbed her eyes. “All of us do…”

—————

“Hey Cal, you alright?”

Calypso was brought out of her thoughts when she heard her friend’s voice call out to her. She turned to the second bartender with her for the night and gave him a smile. “I’m alright, Alfie. Thanks for asking.”

Alfonso Vert, Calypso’s bartender mentor who she had asked to help with tonight’s event (and with permission from Reginald), tsked and shook his head. “No, no, my dear. I know that look. Something is on your mind.” He said as he filled up another glass with beer from the tap for the waiter in front of them. Once the waiter left the bar, he turned to her with a hand on his hip. “Come on, you know you can tell me. Is it about that sweet gal you have a crush on? Matilda Ivy, was it?”

“H-Huh?” Calypso blushed and gave Alfonso a friendly shove. “Naw, that’s not it!” She said with a chuckle before she looked down, her smile becoming a frown. “I’m just a bit worried about someone…”

“Oh?” Alfonso moved closer, standing next to his friend, and clasped his hands together. “Are they helping out tonight with the dinner event?”

“Well, you could put it that way.” She sighed, resting her head against her hand propped up on the counter. “They’re under a lot of stress, but I don’t think that stress is coming from just tonight. And I wanted to help them, but…they don’t want my help.”

“They declined your help?” Alfonso sighed and shook his head, holding his hands up. “Cal, you can’t help anyone who doesn’t want help. If they can’t openly accept your help, then you shouldn’t be wasting your time trying to give it.”

Calypso groaned. “I know that Alfie, you taught me that! But…I feel this is different.” She said, her gaze moving to the kitchen doors. “I think…I think maybe they want to call out for help, but they’re scared to do so. Or maybe they don’t feel like they’re worthy of help. Or maybe they think no one can really help them?” She sighed again and shook her head. “I’m probably overthinking it, Alfie. But I can’t help but feel for them.”

Another loud shout from the kitchen and the sound of a pot crashing to the ground was heard. Some of the Toppats and Marine Toppats looked towards the doors, but Calypso immediately waved her hands in her direction, showing them a bottle of red wine.

“Anyone up for some Merlot on the house?” She called out and they cheered, mainly coming from the group of Marine Toppats. As she poured their drinks, she heard her mentor and friend shake his head and sigh loudly.

“Cal, don’t wait around for them to come to you. Because maybe, you’re not the person they’re trying to get help from. I’ll put down a hundred dollars and say they’re trying to get help from their own self, because that’s usually what it is when someone avoids reaching out to others for help. They probably think they can do this themselves.”

She thought about this as she poured the drinks and setting them on the counter. Then, she closed her eyes and nodded. “Honestly sugar, I’d bet my money on that too. But I’d add something to that.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not that they think they can do it, but that they should be able to do it. They’re expecting too much of themselves, is what I think.” She sighed again and shook her head. “But what do I know?”

Suddenly, there was a large crashing noise in the kitchen and both bartenders whipped their heads to the door. Calypso focused her mind powers to the small area, reading everyone’s sudden panicked and scared thoughts. Then, she heard one voice through the crowd and her eyes widened. “Shit!”

“Cal, what are you doing?!” Alfonso cried out as the female bartender ran from the bar and into the kitchen, disappearing from her friend’s view. The male bartender made a crossing motion over himself, swallowing and praying that she would be alright.

—————

Danny’s P.O.V.

Somehow, the kitchen crew was managing to pull through the massive dinner rush despite what happened earlier. With Scottie at the helm, cutting ingredients and tasting the different sauces and soups they had, it kept them occupied and, hopefully, distracted with whatever was going on with them.

Danny let out another sigh, leaning backwards to stretch his back. He had been on his feet non-stop since the early afternoon, when the Marine Toppats had started piling into the Cafeteria. Thanks to Danny and the Pasta Boys, the Cafeteria looked straight out of a fancy restaurant for the special guests tonight. As he waits for the orders to get to his tray, he remembers the conversation he overheard between the Toppat Chief, Reginald, and the Marine Toppat Captain, Captain Oasis, as he was putting the final touches on the tables.

“I must say Reginald, this space station might have been a good idea after all.” The captain of the Marine Division said, her voice almost floaty but still sounding sturdy as she walked with her hands behind her back. Looking around, the captain chuckled as she gazed at the flowers in the vases set on the tables. “Are these white daffodils? I don’t think I’ve seen them in quite some time.”

“Yes, yes, they are!” Reginald said, tapping the floor with his cane. He had chosen one with an emerald on top of it, encased in gold and with small ruby gems acting as décor on it. The chief pointed his cane at Danny, nodding at him. “That there is our head waiter, and the one who helped decorate this room, Danny Felizima.”

Hearing his name, the waiter turned around and put one hand behind his back and waved towards the captain and chief. Captain Oasis hummed and smiled, but her eyebrows narrowed, and her gaze moved sideways, looking behind Danny.

“Who is that walking towards the kitchen?” She asked, pulling her vibrant blue cape around them with a concerned look. “They don’t look so well…”

Danny looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened when he saw Scottie walking back to the kitchen. They looked a bit more dishevelled from the morning and it almost looked like they hadn’t eaten anything. The waiter swallowed and was about to say something, but the curse’s voice startled him.

“Oh, leave them be! They don’t want to be bothered, do they?” The curse hissed at Danny in his mind. “If they’re gonna blow up, let them! It’ll be more fun that way, wouldn’t you say?”

“Not in front of the captain!” Danny hissed under his breath, turning away from the chief and captain. His eyebrows creased together as he closed his eyes. “Just stay quiet for tonight, okay? Y-You can’t make me look bad in front of her and her crew!”

“Oh, worried only about yourself tonight? What about dear little Scottie, huh?” The curse said smugly. “You and Calypso should be able to handle it tonight. She has her equally gay bartending mentor, while you somehow have a trio of pretend mobsters following you around like ducklings to a mama duck! But Scottie? They’ve got no one and they’re a ticking time bomb…It’s only a matter of time before they REALLY hurt someone!”

“They…they would never! They would stop themselves before they did any of that!”

“Are you sure about that?” The curse questioned, the shadow below him staring up at him with narrowed eyes and crooked grin. “What if they couldn’t, Danny? What will you do then?”

The question left Danny a bit speechless, leaving him to stand awkwardly by the table he was working on, unsure of how to answer his other self’s question. He didn’t move until he felt a rugged hand grab his shoulder.

“Danny, good to see you!” Slice said, laughing as he slapped the Italian waiter on the back, almost causing him to fall over. Behind him, his husband, Wilhelm, and their child, BucketHat, were behind him. Wilhelm was holding a long rectangular case while he held BucketHat in his other arm.

The waiter laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Ciao Slice! Good to see you and the family.” He said and nodded to the couple. “Did the two of you just come back from your mission?”

“Yup! We took the injured to the Medbay before coming down here.” Slice said. “We also had to help Accordion and Violin there too. They seemed a bit banged up trying to help some of the Toppats back to the meeting point. So, it seems like your entertainment for tonight won’t be coming in.”

“What?” Danny shouted, panic in his voice. “B-But we need Signor Fisamornica and Signor Violino! We promised the Marines one of their performances!”

“And you vill still get it!” Wilhelm chimed in and held up the case he was carrying. “Come, look!”

Wilhelm set the case down on the table, while also setting BucketHat down on the ground. The small Toppat ran around the table, exploring the newly decorated Cafeteria as Wilhelm opened the case and gestured to Danny. The waiter peered inside and gasped.

“Fisamornica’s prosthetics?” He asked, his eyes widening. “They…They look so different…”

The prosthetics gleamed and shined underneath the florescent bright lights; the red crystal material of the arms almost blinded the waiter from staring at them too much. But he could see on parts of the arms, there was a space big enough for a circular charm to be placed inside of each unique angular shape. The charms glowed softly in different, vibrant colours, and the sounds of faint instruments could be heard from every one of them.

Slice chuckled at Danny’s amazement. “Yes, this is how they really look without his gloves and without the illusions he and his husband conjure up.” When the waiter looked up with a confused look, Slice laughed. “You know that metal part on his arms? They’re not actually real. It’s to make it seem like his prosthetics are another hunk of junk and not worth selling. Pretty smart if you ask me.”

“Ze Witch vill come and use her magic to summon Accordion and Violin’s past clan! And with her magic to amplify zer powers, you vill still have a Music Dragons performance!” Wilhelm explained, waving his hand towards the stage they had set up earlier in the week. He puffed his chest out, smoothing his moustache. “And of course, you vill have me, Macbeth, Earrings, and Sleepy to help out with the rest!”

Danny let out a nervous chuckle and a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding in. “T-That’s…That’s good.” He shook Wilhelm’s hand and said, “Grazie, this is very much appreciated.” He then turned to Slice, who was closing the case that held Accordion’s prosthetics. “Um, will this be a good idea though? Fisamornica needs his arms, doesn’t he?”

Slice looked down at the case, his eyebrows creasing together. “Well, we didn’t really have a last-minute plan on who to replace them, especially since the mission did leave them quite injured enough to not perform.” He said while leaning against the case. “The arms will be fine. We’re going to put some magical protective measures around it. And besides, it was Accordion’s idea to lend his arms out to us.”

Danny’s eyebrows raised up. “His idea?”

The other Toppat looked the other way, sighing. “He and Violin seemed…a bit out of it when we got teleported back. Not really focused on tonight, y’know?” Slice shrugged his shoulders. “All I know is that wherever they had just come from before they came to the meeting point, they seemed a bit bothered about something. And Accordion didn’t seem to want his arms at that moment, so he let us take them with us.”

Danny nodded. “I see…” He looked towards the kitchen, seeing Reginald and Captain Oasis talking with Calypso at the bar. He sighed and rubbed his head. “Okay, I better let Scottie know about all this, so that they’re caught up–”

“Wait, what about Scottie?” Slice asked, blinking in surprise. “I thought Scottie wasn’t supposed to start for another two hours.”

Danny looked back at Slice, a bit surprised. “Oh, they didn’t tell you?” He said and nodded towards Captain Oasis. “The captain brought in two extra platoons, so we needed to start our prep work early than expected, just to make sure we have enough food for tonight–”

“They won’t be able to eat with us and play with me?”

The waiter looked down, seeing BucketHat by his side and holding a hacky sack in their hand. The small Toppat looked down and sniffled, wiping their eyes from underneath their hat. “T-They promised they would p-play with me before work. A-And make us our favorite dishes…I…I couldn’t play with them this morning. They were really upset…”

“Oh, uh, well–” Danny started to say but he was pushed to the side by Slice, followed by Wilhelm, and both parents stormed inside the kitchen. The slamming of the doors shocked the trio of the chief, the captain and Calypso at the bar, before it was followed by a mix of yelling and shouting, some of it in German and some of it in Irish. The chief visibly grimaced before turning to the captain, profusely apologizing to his guest. Calypso gave the captain her best smile before catching Danny’s glance at them.

He sighed as he placed a hand on BucketHat’s shoulder, patting it. “Maybe it will get better after this…”

—————

Danny was brought back to the present when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked up and saw Figaro looking at him, fiddling with his hands as he looked in another direction. The head waiter stayed quiet until he remembered what was going on and snapped his fingers.

“Merda, the orders! Grazie Figaro, I’ll get on them right away.” He said and started to leave when the young waiter pulled on his sleeve, making him stop in his place.

“Wha? Figaro, what are you–?” He was silenced when he was being pulled back to the end of the kitchen and around the corner. As Danny was pulled away, he saw Pasta and Parmezza take the orders Danny had been waiting on and take them out the kitchen in record speed.

“They’re all doing so well on their own.” Danny thought to himself with a smile. “Maybe, just maybe, I could finally get myself a day off to see him…”

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Figaro stopped in front of one of their storage units that had the kitchens’ non-perishables inside. Looking left and right, Figaro opened the door and turned on the light, ushering Danny inside. The head waiter followed their mentee in and stopped when he saw who else was inside with them.

“B-BucketHat? I thought you were with the other kids!” Danny said, remembering when Kabbitz came to the Cafeteria to pick up the child. “Why are you here?”

The smaller Toppat looked up at Danny, his eyes barely visible from underneath his hat. “Danny…Did Scottie shout at you and Calypso today too?” They asked with wide eyes.

“Uh…” Danny looked around and wiped his hands on his apron, clearing his throat. “I, uh, am not sure…what you are–”

“Yes.” Figaro spoke for the first time that day, making Danny almost jump from the sudden sound. The young waiter blushed before he looked up at his mentor with a sad frown. “They also yelled at me today after lunch.”

“I saw that.” BucketHat chimed in, getting off the box he had been sitting on. He walked over to Danny and Figaro, holding the hacky sack from earlier. “They yelled at you for getting too close to them, right?”

Figaro nodded. “I…they fell over and I reached out to help them up…but they screamed at me, saying they didn’t need any help at all…” He looked up at Danny, eyes narrowed. “But they didn’t say ‘I don’t need your help!’ They said, ‘I don’t need anyone’s help!’ There wasn’t anyone else but me and them in that hallway…I think there’s something going on with Scottie.”

Danny snorted. “When is there any day that they don’t have a problem?” He grumbled and crossed his arms.

“But that’s just it!” BucketHat cried. “My sibling is always having a problem a-and they won’t let us help them! Papa and dad shouted at them today, but that didn’t fix anything.” Their shoulders started shaking as they held onto their toy for support. “U-Ulle and Jay made them a cake but they hated it…and you and Miss Calypso a-always help them out in the k-kitchen, but it’s not working! T-They’re still angry! A-And I d-don’t know why!”

The child sobbed into their sleeves, clutching the hacky sack close to their chest. Figaro looked at the child sadly, kneeling down to try and comfort them. Danny looked down at BucketHat, unsure of what he could even do for them. Then, he saw the hacky sack in their hands and realized something: That was the toy that Scottie had gotten for BucketHat when they first came to the clan. It meant so much to little one that they still had it up until now. The launch into space seemed almost long ago…too long after what happened to him.

Danny then thought about Crusher, his long-time boyfriend, and what he would do in this situation. Danny knew Crusher would confront the problem when everything else had failed, meaning he would have to confront Scottie about their behaviour and how it was affecting everyone around them, more than it usually did. They couldn’t wait anymore for Scottie to blow their top off, they couldn’t take that chance.

The waiter knew the enforcer would have done it in a heartbeat, because he cared about those in the clan and who they meant to his loved ones. Danny reached into his pocket and gripped the rose pin he received from Crusher, before he was put into a coma, and inhaled deeply before letting his breath, and the pin, go.

“I’ll go talk to Scottie after the dinner rush.” Danny said, feeling a surge of confidence rush into him. “I’ll get Calypso to back me up. We…We need to do an intervention, stop them from trying to hurt others unintentionally with their words and actions.”

BucketHat looked up with wide eyes, but they seemed full of hope than they were before. Figaro narrowed his eyes as he stood up. “Danny, are you sure it was unintentional?” He asked. “Everything Scottie did today seemed very intentional. Like they wanted to hurt the people around them.”

Danny shook his head, pushing his arms out. “No, absolutely not. Scottie would never hurt anyone.” He said, trying to ignore the little whisper in the back of his mind. As he walked back to the door and opened it, he continued, “In fact, I feel like if they did hurt anyone, they would regret it very deeply.”

Just as he finished his sentence, the front of his shirt was grabbed and he was tossed back out into the hallway, screaming as he slid into the main room of the kitchen. The whole kitchen came to a complete stop as the head waiter slowly stood up, using one of the counters as support. But as he stood up, he was hit in the back and he stumbled forward, crashing into the table that was preparing the last of the appetizers.

“Cazzo!” He yelled, feeling the sting of the impact on his arm. As he rubbed it, he looked up and gasped. “S-S-Scottie? W-What’s going on?”

The head chef cracked their neck and pushed their sleeves up to their elbows. “Oh, I don’t know Danny. Why don’t you tell me why YOU WERE SLACKING OFF IN THE BACK?!” They yelled and lunged at him with a knife they pulled out from their jacket.

The memory of when Scottie had thrown the knife at him back on the Airship briefly flashed in his mind. Immediately, Danny summoned his big cross and blocked Scottie’s swing. This time, he was prepared.

“Scottie, fermati! Please, listen to me!” He shouted, swing his cross again to block another attack. “You need to calm down! This isn’t like you!”

“CALM DOWN?!” Scottie grabbed their hair and pulled it, looking at Danny with what looked like vile hatred against him in their eyes. “I CAN’T! Not when everything is going to shit! Not when you’re off slacking off with your stupid Pasta boy, and not when there isn’t enough food ready for this damn event!”

“HEY! Figaro, Pasta, and Parmezza have stepped up since they started working here!” Danny yelled, his cross and Scottie’s knife clashing together as they fought to push back the other. The waiter’s eyes glowed pink as his cross was wrapped with that same glow from his eyes. “They have been nothing but great help, Scottie! Everyone here has been doing their best for tonight’s event! It…just…seems like YOU are the one who is giving up on everything!”

“And what if I HAVE GIVEN UP?!” Scottie shouted, finding the strength to push Scottie back against the table he had crashed into earlier. “What if I HAVE FUCKING TRIED EVERYTHING, DANNY? None of it worked out for me because THERE’S NOTHING THAT CAN HELP ME!”

Danny and the table toppled over, along with the food the other kitchen staff had been preparing. Someone screamed and it caused a panicked uproar within the others, causing some of them to run out of the double doors and others to hide under the tables and behind the cabinets.

He slowly got up, clutching his side and coughing. He didn’t cough up blood but when he wiped his mouth, he could taste the metal liquid beneath his tongue. He turned around and spat into the sink before wiping his mouth and looked back at Scottie, clutching his cross tightly.

“C-Come on, Scottie. T-That isn’t true!” He swallowed, trying to extend his free hand towards the head chef. “Scottie, per favore. Calypso and I, w-we may not know exactly what you’re going through, but maybe we do know how you’re feeling! You just need talk to us!”

Scottie’s eyes snapped open, and they let out an almost inhuman growl, tossing aside the knife before they pulled out their pepper grinder. They pulled the switch and it clicked into place, the gatling gun started rotating to life as evident by the whirring noises it was making, each pepper dispenser inside the gun locking into place.

“You shouldn’t have fucking said that.” Danny’s curse said inside his head.

“I shouldn’t have fucking said that.” Danny whispered, his eyes widening in fear as Scottie unleashed the full force of their pepper grinder onto the head waiter.

—————

General P.O.V.

Everyone that was sitting at their tables, enjoying the meal and drinks, stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the full-blown chaos that was happening behind the kitchen doors. The window that served as a connection between Calypso’s bar and the kitchen was closed shut, as per the bartender’s request in case any knives or dangerous tool shot out from the window.

Near the stage, where The Witch had been playing her flute with the Music Dragon spirits and Wilhelm’s crew, Captain Oasis and Chief Reginald stared at the kitchen doors with two different emotions on their faces: Worry and anxiety on the chief’s face, and major concern on the captain’s.

“Reginald, are you sure everything is alright?” Oasis asked, looking down at her fellow leader.

The chief flinched under their gaze, but he let out a nervous laugh as he clasped his hands together on the table. “O-Of course! Why wouldn’t everything be alright?” he said as he lifted his glass of wine, which was shaking due to his own gloved hands trembling like an earthquake. Thankfully, his Right Hand Man forced Reginald’s arm back down and made him let go of the glass, putting his hand in his instead.

Captain Oasis closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “Reginald, you know I can tell when someone is lying, right?”

“A-Ah, perhaps? Because of your ability to tell lie from truth, nyeh?”

When she didn’t answer back, Reginald let out a deep sigh and rested his head against the table. “I-I was a bit worried about putting our head chef, Scottie, in charge of today’s event. But I had no one else to take their place. H-However, I will be giving them two weeks off and–”

“I wasn’t referring to them, Reginald.” Captain Oasis interrupted. She took her own wine glass and drank from it before she spoke. “I’m talking about the recent news of the Austrian Sapphire, and the more recent news of the Canadian Rose Quartz going missing…You’re worried I’m not going to give you the backup and the tools you need to search for those gems, correct?”

Right added quietly, “And to find the bastards that got our clan members hurt…”

The chief lifted his head and swallowed the lump in his throat, looking up at the Marine captain. “Oasis, I know you might think that I think my division is the best one out of the whole clan because we got this space station into orbit, nyeh.” He said, licking his dry lips as he continued. “But we really, seriously, need your help in tracking down those gems, and the people who took them from us. Our own devices are outdated, and we need someone who can teach some of our Toppats to track via the newer technologies we stole. We need some of your own technology to update ours. This is all we are asking, Captain Oasis.”

Before the captain could give her answer, the double doors of the kitchen flung open, followed by a rain of small pepper bullets in the air. Immediately, both Toppats from the two different division ducked under their tables or hoisted their tables up to create temporary shields. One Toppat was thrown out of the kitchen, his clothes and brown skin burned by the pepper bullets.

“Ah, ah, ah cazzo!” Danny yelled, gingerly trying to get up while using his cross as a support. “Christ, it burns!”

“Danny!” Reginald shouted but he was pulled back by Right Hand Man, who had pulled out his gun and fired a couple of rounds into the entrance of the kitchen. The chief pulled his right hand back and hissed, “Be careful! You might hit one of our own!”

He narrowed his eyes at his husband before turning to see Scottie walk out of the kitchen, shaking violently and their eyes practically seeing red. “That’s kind of the point, Reg.” Right Hand Man said, reloading his pistol. “This is going too far.”

Scottie let out another roar and used their pepper grinder once more, unloading another round of their pepper bullets onto everyone in their vision. Someone had grabbed Danny and pulled them around one of the tables being used as a shield, while some of the Marine Toppats started shooting at Scottie with their own pistols and rifles. But some of the Toppats from the Orbital Station were a bit more hesitant to shoot their own head chef, unlike the Right Hand Man.

Danny gasped when he felt a hand over his skin, and he looked up to see Ulle and Jay hovering over him, with Ulle trying to use her music magic to heal Danny’s wounds. “Y-You guys! You should go!” The head waiter cried out over the sounds of gunshots, hissing when he felt the stinging of his wounds under Ulle’s hands. “I-I can’t reason with them, I tried!”

The duo looked at each other before Jay looked back at Danny, determination in his eyes. “We still have to try.” He said, summoning his other form.

“Yeah! Scottie’s our friend!” Ulle shouted, summoning her ukulele. “We have to get through to them, no matter what!”

Danny shook his head, struggling to get up. Even with his wounds sort of healed, his body was still screaming in pain from the bullets grazing every part of him. “N-No! We should let Reginald and Right handle this. I can’t have you guys getting hurt!”

“That’s the risk we’re willing to take.” Jay said firmly before leaping out from behind the table and throwing a fireball towards Scottie, which landed at their feet and burned the carpet. Ulle followed suit, singing a high-pitched note and pushed it towards Scottie, which hit them and made them stumble backwards a bit.

The waiter gritted his teeth as he tried to get up once more but fell forward. He almost hit the ground had it not been for Calypso’s hand grabbing his arm tightly and helping him up.

“Merda! Careful, Calypso!” He hissed and rubbed his left arm where she had grabbed.

“Sorry, but I need to get you and this little guy out of here.” She said, showing that she was carrying a whimpering and shaking BucketHat in her arms. He looked at the smaller Toppat with sympathy before looking at Calypso and nodding.

“Let’s go!”

Every Toppat that had been in the Cafeteria had either ran out into the hallway for safety, or had joined the fight to try and stop the out of control head chef. Unfortunately, as Calypso and Danny tried to run to the stage for cover, they heard some of their fellow Toppats arguing with the Marine Toppats on what they should do, and their disagreements led some of them to fight each other instead.

“You have to do something about your crazy chef! They’re gonna fucking kill somebody if you don’t stop them!”

“They’re gonna kill ME if we try and do something! You just have to compliment the food they make, which is absolutely divine each time you have it, and not bother them at all!”

“While I agree the food is amazing and I wish I had more, you’re a fucking coward for not holding them accountable for this mess!”

Calypso and Danny grimaced as they overheard that conversation but maintained their focus on getting to the stage. But before they could even reach the stage, a knife was thrown in their direction and Calypso planted her feet on the ground, holding Danny and BucketHat in her arms so they both didn’t get hit. The two adults looked behind them and their faces paled.

Scottie had just broken through the rows of barricades hastily set up by everyone, despite the futility of it all. And Jay and Ulle, despite their own efforts to try and trap their friend, were lying on the floor near the bar, struggling to get up on their own. Alfonso had ran around the bar and was currently trying to drag them both to safety.

“Aw, fu–” Calypso started before she yelped and stepped back again when another knife was thrown at her. She quickly tossed BucketHat to the side, who rolled over onto their side and looked up, confusion in their eyes. Calypso and Danny got in front of BucketHat to protect them, the child from Scottie’s vision. Calypso shouted, “For Goddesses’ sake Scottie! This is getting way too out of hand!”

They didn’t reply as they moved closer to Danny and Calypso, holding a knife out towards her and Danny. “What…the fuck…does it look like?” They said, a broken laugh escaping them as they glared the duo, an empty look in their grey-reddish eyes. The lowered their head, another chuckle leaving them as their dishevelled hair shook. “I don’t fucking care anymore…None of you fucking listen to me…every one of you keep saying stuff to just keep me quiet…” They looked up quickly and bared their teeth, holding their knife up and aimed it at them. “I’M FUCKING DONE WITH EVERYONE TRYING TO HELP ME! I DON’T FUCKING NEED IT! NONE OF YOU EVEN LISTEN TO ME! NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME SO STOP TRYING TO FUCKING HELP ME!”

Time seemed to slow down the second Scottie tossed the knife at the duo. This time, with precise and deadly aim. Danny tried to push Calypso out of the way, but his legs gave way, and he couldn’t stand properly. As he almost fell to the ground a second time, Calypso managed to grab her colleague and pull him up, but realized she probably shouldn’t have, seeing the tip of the knife heading straight her eyes. Or was it heading straight for Danny’s head?

It didn’t matter. Because the target of Scottie’s knife soon changed when sweet, little BucketHat got up and ran in front of Calypso and Danny, holding their arms out in front of the duo. “Scottie, stop it! You’re hurting yourself!” They cried out, tears falling down their face.

“NO!” Calypso and Danny yelled, both reaching out for the child, but they were too late.

In an instant, the small Toppat flew backwards towards the duo and landed on their back. Everyone in the room stopped fighting and looked towards what had just happened. BucketHat’s voice somehow broke through the wall that Scottie had brought up, to shield themselves away from the very people who were trying to help them. Immediately, the red left their eyes and they gasped, covering their mouth with both hands.

Miraculously, BucketHat did not feel the brunt of the sharp knife digging into their skin. That feeling instead went to their father, Slice, who was half-standing and half-hunching over, and with Scottie’s knife was lodged just above his heart, nearly missing the vital organ he needed to live. Slice looked at Scottie, an emotion in his eyes that the head chef couldn’t describe, before falling over onto his side without another word.

“S-S-Sli…” Scottie tried to reach out for their father figure, but they were stopped when Calypso let out a loud, rage-filled roar. The bartender ran past BucketHat and Slice, the child trying to wake their dad up and openly crying his name out. While Danny crawled over to BucketHat and Slice, Calypso grabbed Scottie by the front of their jacket with her right hand and held them off the ground.

“Scottie…” She said, his voice shaking with fury and a temper that had not been seen by many Toppats before. Calypso looked up at them, tears gathering at the corner of her dark blue eye, as she clenched her teeth and her left hand curled into a fist.

“I’m really going to regret this later, sugar.” She pulled her left fist back, a resolution final in her eyes. “But you’ve crossed the goddamn line this time!”

Scottie’s eyes widened, quickly realizing what was about to happen. They held out both their hands, trying to stop her. “Wait, wait, WAIT, I DIDN’T MEAN TO–”

*THWACK*

—————

Scottie’s P.O.V.

“You’re a fucking pathetic failure–”

Young Scottie covered their ears, hearing the name they already deemed as dead. “Don’t call me that!”

*CRACK!* The impact of the ruler hitting their cheek sent them to the ground. The ten-year-old curled up into a ball and hid their face, crying as tears fell down their face.

“STOP CRYING, YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT!” The man yelled, slamming the ruler, dotted with spikes on its side, down on the child’s arm. As blood spilled from the wounds, their father chuckled and dropped the ruler, cracking both of his hands. “Maybe after this, you’ll start to learn how to be an obedient daughter this time…”

“NO!” Scottie shouted but their shouts went deaf to anyone who heard them, or who could even hear them at all, as their father started beating them with his fists…

—————

Scottie gasped as they opened their eyes, breathing heavily. They felt whatever snacks and liquids they had early rising from their stomach and into their throat, but they forced it back down, causing them to cough and sputter from where they were lying.

Scottie slowly pushed themselves up and looked around their environment. They were…in the Observatory? Weren’t they just in the Cafeteria earlier?

The Cafeteria…quickly as it happened, the events of what happened during the dinner event rushed back into their mind, causing them to groan and lie back down on the metal flooring. They shivered and pressed their forehead against the cool surface, sweat running down their face as they remembered what happened. Their stress getting too high, the many people trying to help them, finding Danny in the back of the kitchen, throwing a knife at him and Calypso, BucketHat jumping in front of it, only to have Slice–

Scottie gagged and curled up even more, sobbing quietly and closed their eyes, ignoring the pain that was coming from their left eye. “N-No…I’m sorry…”

Then, they heard a low, humming noise coming from one of their sides. Scottie looked up to find the source of the noise, but then they felt a warm, heavy blanket, with images of white daffodils sewn on it, being carefully placed on them. A red glow surrounded it before it disappeared after it was placed on them. The chef tugged at the blanket, staring at it, before looking up to their left.

Sitting just a few feet away from them was Accordion, one of the well-known enforcers of the Toppat Clan. He was without his hat and his prosthetics, which made the head chef’s eyes widened. It didn’t seem to bother the humming enforcer, who was sitting in the corner of an enclave, built underneath one of the balconies of the Observatory. He had pillows and blankets surrounding him, some snacks and juice boxes, his top hat to the side, and the familiar duo of Echo and Jingle, who were unusually quiet in their talking. Jingle seemed to be resting, while Echo was softly playing what sounded like lofi music.

The chef slowly sat up, pulling the blanket around them tighter before asking quietly, “What…What happened?”

Accordion opened one eye, his face showing his usual resting look. “Well…” He started, his deep voice almost harmonizing with the music playing. “I came here a couple of hours ago to try and clear my mind from the mission I was on…Then suddenly, you barged in from the side door, stopped where you are sitting, screamed very loudly, and then collapsed…that was about an hour and a half ago…”

“A…An hour and a half?!” Scottie cried and tried to get up but started coughing again, feeling a sudden wave of nausea rise up in their stomach once again. They sat back down, resting their head against their knees and waited for the feeling to pass. As they waited, Echo slowly waddled up to Scottie, carefully holding a juice box sideways between its corners and held it up to the head chef.

Scottie looked up before shaking their head. “No thank you.”

Echo didn’t respond but turned around and waddled its way back to Accordion. When it did, Accordion hummed and a soft red glow surrounded the juice box, taking it from Echo’s corners and putting it back with the other juice boxes. Scottie watched this before looking down at the blanket around them, threading their fingers through the soft material.

“S-So…” Scottie said, breaking the silence between them. “Where are your arms...And Violin?”

Accordion hummed quietly, resting his head against the side of the enclave. “My arms…they’re with your dad, Wilhelm. We…We didn’t feel up to performing tonight, both physically and mentally after our mission…Dr. Whitespade wanted to make sure Violin was okay after the mission, so he’s in the Medbay…It might be Violin’s last mission before he’s ordered to stay up here…”

The chef nodded, resting their head against their knees. “R-Right, because of your baby–”

“Babies.”

Scottie blinked. “What?”

The enforcer pushed his legs out, stretching them and his back against the wall. When he was done, he brought one of his knees back to his chest and rested his head against it, almost mimicking Scottie. “We’re having twins…a boy and a girl…we found out the other day. We wanted to tell everyone tonight...but it will have to wait…”

The chef nodded again. “I see…”

Silence enveloped the Observatory once more, leaving the two Toppats to stay quiet towards the other while Echo continued to play its music. What would have felt like something to keep them apart, Scottie was glad that Accordion wasn’t prodding them about what led them to the Observatory. They could tell that, even with whatever was on his own mind, he was able to observe that something was weighing on their mind, but he wasn’t pushing them to say what it was. Even in silence, Scottie felt a bit closer to Accordion than they had first met him back on the Airship.

Scottie swallowed the lump in their throat, shaking underneath the blanket but stayed silent. Slowly, they stood up and shuffled their way towards the other Toppat. Once they reached the edge of the pile of blankets Accordion was sitting on, Scottie sat back down, pulling the blanket tightly around them again. Another minute of silence passed between them before Scottie spoke through their dry lips.

“Would…Would you mind if I just talked, and you said nothing at all?” They asked before quickly adding, “U-Unless…unless you really need to say something…”

Accordion closed his eyes and hummed, no readable emotion on his face. He cracked open his left eye before he nodded. “That’s what I’m here for, Scottie.”

The chef closed their eyes and looked down. “T-Thank you…” They looked away from Accordion and held up their hands, staring at them as they tried to collect their thoughts.

“All of this started about a month ago…when I had a nightmare that slowly became a recurring nightmare…”

—————

For the next half hour, Scottie poured their heart out to Accordion, who did as he was asked to early by Scottie: To sit and listen as the head chef explained what had been going with them.

“I didn’t know how to stop the nightmare from coming back. Every time it happened and every time I woke up, I tried to focus on my work so the feeling would go away.” They clenched their fists as an image of their father popped into their mind but disappeared quickly as it had appeared. “But then, everyone started getting on my nerves, asking me what was wrong and asking if I was okay…If I tried to tell them that, ‘Oh yeah, just a small nightmare, please don’t bother me.’, they would just say ‘Oh I know the feeling! You should try this to stop it!’ As if it would work with the nightmares I’ve faced when I was younger! And the nightmares I continue to live through because of that bastard!”

Accordion hummed, closing his eyes and nodding.

Scottie gripped the blanket in their hands tightly, the feeling of anger rising inside of them. “Everyone thinks they know how to help me, but they don’t! Because of that stupid nightmare, and the other stupid people trying to “help” me, today was the absolute worst fucking day of my life! All the stress, all their nagging voices–It just…it just–!”

“Piled up.” Accordion said softly.

“Yes, exactly!” Scottie cried, slightly annoyed hearing his voice but thankful he spoke up as they tried to gather their thoughts once again. “Tonight was already stressful because it was a huge event that I’ve never done! Sure, I’ve done birthdays and holiday parties before, but feeding two divisions in one night?” They grabbed their hair and pulled at it, but less harsh than they had done it before. “It was so fucking stressful. I basically had to do everything myself!”

As they stopped to catch their breath, they felt Accordion staring at them from the side. They scowled and let out a growl. “Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that!” They shouted, turning to face Accordion. “Calypso and Danny weren’t even that helpful! They were trying to tell me that we had it under control, even if that stupid Marine captain warned us about an extra two platoons coming to the space station!”

“…Did you have it under control?”

Scottie paused before glaring up at Accordion. “…Yeah, we did.” They finally said with a sigh. “Danny had his mentees start cutting those ingredients we needed, even after…” They swallowed, remembering when they grabbed Parmezza’s tie and yelled in his face. “…even after I yelled at one of them…to not say he knew how I was feeling…” They shook their head, looking to the side. “No one understands me. No one knows how I truly feel…”

Accordion hummed again and nodded, staying quiet once more. Scottie stared at the other Toppat before they slowly stood up and put the blanket down, starting to pace back and forth from the enclave to the window in front of them.

“I-I mean, I know I shouldn’t have yelled at him, he was only trying to help…But like I said earlier, nobody knows how to help me! I don’t need anyone’s help with what I’m dealing with, so it’s just better if they stay quiet and leave me alone. Like with Ulle and Jay, they made me a cake cause they both thought it would help me out! I don’t even like that much sweet stuff, and it wasn’t going to help me with the stress I was dealing with!”

“…They made you a strawberry cheesecake. I helped Ulle with the icing before I left on the mission.”

Scottie froze in place, now feeling that rising feeling in their stomach sink all the way down. They shook their head and turned to look at Accordion, clenching their teeth. “W-What of it? I still didn’t want it!”

Accordion hummed and closed his eyes, staying quiet for a moment. “…But you could have just walked away from them.”

The chef turned around to face the window, feeling a pang of guilt break through them. Scottie realized they could have just walked away from their friends, but they were so insistent on showing them the cake…a cake that would have been Ulle’s first time baking with Jay. They remembered the one time Ulle had watched Scottie make a cake, promising them that they would make a cheesecake that was out of the world just for them.

“You may be a grump, but now that I know your one weakness, you’re going to get a cake that will rock your world!”

Scottie laughed along with Jay, shaking their head. “I can’t wait for it, Ulle.” They told her, giving her a small genuine smile. “Show me what you got!”

The chef cleared their throat, trying to push the memory to the side of their mind. “I-I know…” They said quietly, walking back to the enclave and sitting in it, but away from Accordion and the blanket. They held it in their hand again, rubbing the material as they tried to continue. “I…don’t think I ate anything before returning that afternoon. But I knew I forgot to do something before that…”

When Accordion didn’t hum or say anything, Scottie bit down on their lip as they felt tears forming in their eyes. “I…I was supposed to make a quick dinner for Slice, Wilhelm and BucketHat…and I was supposed to play with BucketHat before I worked, b-but…I forgot to tell them about the extra people coming…”

“…They would have understood, Scottie.”

The chef wanted to yell at Accordion to just stay quiet when they talked, but they couldn’t deny that statement. Even through all the stress they had been facing, their family was always patient with them. This, as Scottie started to realize, had always been true since they first joined the Toppat Clan. Their dads knew they had a rough past, so they always waited for Scottie to tell them about it. They never asked any more than they should know…

As Scottie started pulling out the pan they needed to start making the pancakes, he felt Slice’s hand on their shoulder.

“Hey, kiddo. Let me and your pops take care of breakfast.” Slice said with a smile. “You didn’t sleep well last night again, huh?”

Scottie didn’t answer at first but they sighed and nodded. “Y-Yeah, it was another bad one.”

Slice only nodded, giving their child a hug. “It’s alright, Scottie. You let us take care of this and you get some rest, okay?” He said and waved his hand towards the couch, where BucketHat was watching their cartoon show and eating cereal. “Stay with Bucket, we’ll have this done in a jiffy.”

Although Scottie wanted to argue with Slice about doing the work, they saw both the concern and worry look in his light-yellow eyes, but also saw another emotion they still weren’t used to: love. Familial love.

The chef closed their eyes and nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that…Thanks, dad.”

“Any time, Scottie. Any time.”

The memory made the tears from their eyes roll down their cheeks. Their breathing got heavy, as they slowly felt a wave of emotions overtake them: the guilt that had been residing in them since the start, the happiness they felt at remembering the memories, and the anger and sadness of realizing what they had done to their friends and family.

“I…I…” Scottie struggled to speak, grabbing the blanket and used it to wipe their face of the tears, but they kept coming down and stained their white chef jacket in large wet puddles. “I…I did it again too…”

“…Did what?”

Scottie inhaled deeply, feeling the back of their throat tighten, remembering what happened between them and Danny. “I attacked Danny again…I-I thought he was s-slacking off, b-but he was p-probably trying t-to help F-Figaro with s-something…T-That’s why t-they were in the back…”

“Danny, are you sure about this?” Scottie asked, their eyebrows narrowed together as they, Calypso and Danny watched the three new kitchen staff members, who had dubbed themselves the Pasta Boys, joke around with the other staff members. “I don’t think they’ll take it seriously…”

Danny looked at Scottie and gave them two thumbs up and a nervous smile. “I-It will be fine, Scottie! I’ll teach them everything I know so that they will be the best waiters and chefs in this clan!” He said. “Besides, you taught me what I needed to know, so they’re going to be learning from the best!”

“Right…” Scottie said with a roll of their eyes before they were elbowed in the side by Calypso, who was laughing at them. “What?! What’s your problem?”

“Oh, sugar, Danny was complimenting you!” She said and winked. “If he’s going to be teaching them, then that means he’s going to be passing on whatever knowledge and skills you passed onto him. And to know that they’ll be taught by someone who was mentored by the great Scottie Anderson, I think that’s a compliment worth keeping.”

The head chef blushed, which cause Calypso to laugh again and for Danny to give a small giggle as well. “Yeah, yeah…” Scottie mumbled, hiding their face but also felt a swelling of pride in their chest.

“I-I-I…” Scottie started hyperventilating, the tears coming down hard and fast, the one memory with their close colleagues making all their emotions explode at once. Coupled with the other memories that flashed into their minds, Scottie was starting to feel the effects of the extreme guilt they had been trying to push down and hide away. As predicted, it came back up and smack them right in the face, a consequence of hiding away what they were truly feeling from their loved ones.

They felt a sting on their left eye and they hissed, reaching up to touch it gingerly. “…C-Calypso g-gave me a black eye, didn’t she?” They said in between their sobbing.

“…It looks like it…There’s no one else I know who could punch someone else that hard and leave it black for so long…”

Scottie cried and covered their face in their hands. “W-Well she was right to hit me! I f-fucked up so badly! I-I let my anger g-get the best of me and I almost hurt her and Danny…I almost fucking hurt my little brother!” They threw their hands in the air, screaming, “And who do I end up hurting?! I end up hurting the one guy who does his best to be patient with me, even if he doesn’t know what I truly went through! I…I fucking hurt my dad…I…I didn’t mean too! I’m just…just so fucking angry! No one understands me, no one does!…I’m…I’m a fucking monster…”

The chef sobbed and cried, pulling the soft white blanket up to them and they buried their face into the blanket, letting out the tears they had been holding back.

Silence fell over the two Toppats once more, but now the room only had the sounds of Scottie crying. Echo had stopped playing its music a while ago and stayed in its spot with Jingle, watching Scottie cry.

After some time, what felt like a very long time to Scottie, they started to calm down. As they did, they heard soft shuffling from their left side and looked up to see Accordion had moved closer to them but left enough space to respect their boundaries. He stared down at them, silent as ever and his face was still an unreadable poker face ever since Scottie had woken up in the Observatory.

They both stared at each other until Accordion lifted his right stump to Scottie. Even without his prosthetics, the smaller Toppat knew what he was asking without saying it to them.

The chef sniffled and wiped their face with their arm, before scooting closer to Accordion and leaned against his side, resting their head against his chest as he felt their right stump rest against their back. They could hear his steady breathing along with the sounds of his heartbeat beating in rhythm with his breathing. Scottie closed their eyes and let go of the breath they had been holding, feeling themselves slowly calm down.

As soon as Scottie could feel their breathing was back to normal, they coughed as they tried to clear their throat. They continued to cough until they felt something hitting their shoe repeatedly. Echo had picked up another juice box and was using one of its corners to get Scottie’s attention.

This time, Scottie sat up and took the juice box from Echo, nodding at it. “Thanks, Echo…”

Echo’s screen lit up, showing a big smile from the boombox. “Y-You’re w-welcome!” It sang out before waddling back over to Accordion’s side.

Once Scottie took a sip from the juice box, Accordion cleared his own throat which made the chef look up at them. After a moment, the taller Toppat sighed and said, “If it’s alright with you, may I say something?”

They hesitated but after thinking for a moment, they finished their juice box and placed the empty box down, nodding. “Sure…” They said before their tone became irritated, thinking back to what just happened. “Even though I asked you not to say anything when I was talking, you probably have more to add.” They rolled their eyes before waving a hand at him. “But just so you know, whatever you’re going to say, I’ve probably heard it before!”

Scottie waited for Accordion to say something, but nothing came from him. They looked up and realized that whatever poker face Accordion had, it had broken into a hard-looking glare aimed at them.

They shrunk away from his gaze, realizing they had nowhere to hide from it. “…A-Aren’t you going to say something?”

The taller Toppat scoffed and looked away from them. “Well, you said you’ve heard it all before so I guess I don’t really have anything to say at all.” He said bitterly with a scowl.

Scottie paled and tried to grab his jacket, realizing their error. “That’s not what I meant! I–”

“Oh, is it? Then what did you really mean?” Accordion asked, snapping his head to look back down at them. “Do you mean, that you really don’t want to hear what I have to say but really do, or that you do want me to say it, so you can pick a fight with me and keep running away from what’s really troubling you?”

“I…I–” Scottie stammered but stopped, realizing they had no answer for what he was saying.

Accordion huffed before taking in another deep breath and letting go. “Scottie.” He said, gently nudging them with his stump. “Do you really want another person to go through what you’ve been through, memory for memory, emotion for emotion, so that you finally have someone who can understand all your pain?”

“No!” Scottie shouted quickly, pausing as they comprehended what they just said “...No, I don’t mean it that way, either. I wouldn’t want to wish my life onto someone else.”

The taller Toppat placed his stump on Scottie’s shoulder and pushed it, so that Scottie was looking up at him. “Then, what do you mean when you say, ‘No one understands me.’?” Accordion asked, his gaze softening.

Scottie looked up at him before taking in a deep breath and letting it go. “I mean…I mean, no one understands me because they don’t listen to me.” They said, clenching their hands into fists. “They keep saying things like, ‘Yeah I know what you mean’ and then say something entirely different! They don’t even relate what they went through with what I’ve gone through. They just, talk about themselves and their pain! They don’t even acknowledge my pain!” They bit down on their lower lip, trying not to let the tears fall again. “That’s why I keep quiet about my past because everyone seems to “know” and “understand” my pain without hearing about it! But even if they do, it’s like they don’t even want to hear about it either! Everything that’s happened to me is unfair, and I hate that I can’t even talk about it because it feels like everyone trivializes what I’m feeling! I–I…I don’t even want to shout, I don’t want to keep getting angry, but I do because I don’t know what else I can do to…to not just end it all right now.”

The chef took in another deep breath and let it go, suddenly feeling a weight leave their shoulders. They looked up at Accordion, who was staring at them with that soft look, but they could tell there was something else on his face…a hint of understanding.

Scottie would have been annoyed after what they had just said, but they stopped themselves before they said something. Accordion had listened to him, didn’t he? He only spoke when he felt he needed to and when he had asked to say something, Scottie immediately berated him. They had felt bad but felt worse when Accordion talked back against them, calling them out for their actions. Because he was right to call them out for what they said and done, just like everyone else had earlier that day.

“Of fucking course he would understand…he and Violin always listens…” Scottie thought and buried their face into their hands. “I-I’m sorry, I’ll just go–”

“You don’t deserve it.”

Scottie’s head snapped up and they looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

Accordion looked at him, an expression of both empathy and sympathy on his face. “You don’t deserve what happened to you before you joined the clan, Scottie. You don’t deserve that pain you received, and you don’t deserve to be isolated from everyone just because you have a hard time explaining your emotions.” He lifted his stump to his face so he could push back the hair that was covering the right side of his face. “I don’t know exactly the feelings you are feeling because of what happened in your past, nor can I say I understand what your experiences are like. We both had abusive parents who treated us like shit, but I can’t say I know how you truly feel because it’s such a different experience from mine.

“You’re dealing with a lot from your past and no one has offered to wait for you until you were ready to talk. You already know what you did was wrong, so you just need to take those first steps in correcting your mistakes. But you don’t deserve to be treated the way you have been treated by everyone who won’t listen properly, and you don’t deserve what happened to you either.”

Scottie was speechless. “Accordion…” They quietly said, feeling the tears well up in the eyes once again.

Accordion blinked before looking the other way, a faint blush on his face. “I-I’m sorry,” He stuttered, closing his eyes. “I said too much didn’t I? I’ll stay quiet this time–Oh!”

He opened his eyes to see that Scottie had wrap their arms around his waist, pressing their face into his chest once again. “I should be the one apologizing…” They said quietly, some tears falling down their face once more. “You…You do get what it’s like, to live with the nightmares our parents gave us. But you know you shouldn’t talk over me because you don’t really know my nightmares. A-And I don’t know yours.” They stopped to take a breath before continuing. “Everyone else has tried to help, but I never said anything to stop them…but if I did, I didn’t say it nicely. I don’t want to do that again though…” They closed their eyes and buried their face into his chest. “Thank you, Accordion…”

They felt the stump of his right arm press against their back and hold them close, as he rested his head against Scottie’s with a hum. “You’re welcome, Scottie…” He opened one eye and looked down at them. “Is it okay if I told you something else?”

Scottie looked up, tilting their head. “What is it?”

Accordion mimicked the action and gave them a small smile. “It’s something my own dad used to tell me when things got really tough for me…” He let go of Scottie, shaking his head to fix his hair. “It’s okay if you don’t want to hear it though. I’m not saying it to try and help you, since you’re not asking for it, but…I’d like to share it with you, if that’s alright.”

The chef thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Sure thing.”

“At the end of everything, hold on to anything.”

Scottie blinked. “It seems so simple, yet…” They thought about it before they leaned against Accordion, smiling for the first time that day. “I think…I think it’s gonna help me out a little…Thank you…”

For the first time that day, Scottie felt a flicker of hope in the dark recess of their heart. It was like he had said. They needed to take the first step in correcting their mistakes, starting with those they had hurt in the Cafeteria.

—————

General P.O.V.

“So, are we clear on everything that I’ve just said?”

Ulle, Jay, Danny, Calypso, and Alfonso looked at one another before looking back at the chief and nodded. “Yes, sir.” They all answered.

Chief Reginald sighed and tapped the floor with his cane. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some paper that needs to be filed.” He said and turned around, with the Right Hand Man holding onto his right arm, limping a little from the fighting that happened earlier. Before the couple left the Cafeteria, they stopped by Captain Oasis, who had been ordering her own Toppats to help with the clean up of the room, and both leaders spoke to each other in hushed voices.

Alfonso looked at the other Toppats before standing up from the table they were sitting at and cleared his throat. “Well…I better get going and see this…seamstress about my own top hat.” He left, giving Calypso one final pat on her shoulder before quickly leaving the Cafeteria.

The female bartender only sighed and dropped her head onto the table. “What a fucking night…” She murmured, rubbing the side of head with her hand while being careful of the fresh bruises on her face. A parting gift from the Marine Toppats.

Danny also sighed, resting his face in his hands carefully. “Cazzo…” He also murmured, feeling his skin itch from Scottie’s Pepper Grinder. Although the “kind” Dr. Whitespade had looked over him and had prescribed him a special ointment for that itching feeling, he would need to use that ointment for the next three weeks. He felt it wasn’t enough time to be rid of it all.

Jay and Ulle stayed quiet, opting to pick at the ruined tablecloth and munch on what leftover food was in the kitchen. There was no other sound to distract the four wounded Toppats, aside from one of the water fountains that was kept intact, the fluorescent humming of the lights, and the some of the small fires near the kitchen that was slowly burning out.

Then, Ulle lifted her head from the bread she had been munching on, tilting her head towards the door. “I hear someone coming.” She said, putting her bread down on the plate.

“It could be anybody.” Jay said, not looking up from the tablecloth, picking a bigger hole out from a smaller one. They sighed and stopped, closing their eyes. “Face it Ulle, it couldn’t be–”

“Scottie!” Danny shouted, making Jay open their eyes and look in the direction that Danny was looking at.

Scottie entered the Cafeteria, their chef jacket hanging over their arm, and slowly approached the four Toppats sitting at the damaged table. They looked around, grimacing at the aftermath of what they caused. As soon as they reached the table, they held their hands together and avoided eye contact with anyone sitting there.

A moment of silence passed between the five of them before Calypso sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Let’s…Let’s just get the bad news out of the way.” She said and looked over at Danny, who sighed and nodded.

Scottie looked up, their eyebrows creasing together. “Is…Is Reginald kicking me out of the clan?” They asked quietly.

“Good heavens, no Scottie. That wasn’t something the chief was thinking of when he thought about your consequence.” Calypso said quickly, waving her hands at them. She looked over to where Captain Oasis and Chief Reginald were still talking, before turning back to Scottie. “At first, Reginald was going to turn the two-week vacation he was going to give you as a two-week suspension, but Captain Oasis stopped him from doing that. She…well…”

“She suggested that he make it a month of suspension without pay, effective immediately.” Danny finished for Calypso, frowning sadly. “Scusa, Scottie…Reginald said it was for the best because of…because of what you’re dealing with. But he did say he would at least give you a week of pay towards the end of the month.”

The chef took in a deep breath and let it go, nodding. “That…That’s fine…It’s better than being thrown out of the clan…”

Calypso and Danny looked at each other before Danny stood up, gingerly, and walked over to Scottie, rubbing both his hands together. “It is better this way…” He said before he let go of the breath he had been holding. “I’ve asked Reginald for at least three weeks off, without pay.”

Hearing that made Scottie’s eyes widened. “What? But, Danny, you didn’t do anything wrong!”

“He didn’t, but I did.” Calypso said, also standing up from her seat to approach Scottie. She stopped just behind Danny, keeping her distance from them as she rubbed the knuckles on her left hand. “See, after I…punched you, I let myself get carried away and I ended up fighting some of those Marine Toppats that were speaking badly about you. I…I knew you had something else going on, sugar. I knew it from this morning, when I saw what you had been dealing with mentally…I just snapped on them, and Reginald and Captain Oasis saw. So, he put me on suspension for about three weeks, without pay.”

Scottie blinked and looked down, holding their clasped hands close to their chest. “You…you saw that…and still punched me…”

The bartender sighed and hid her eyes with her hand. “I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t know what else to do! We both tried talking to you earlier, but you shut both of us out and even threatened to hurt Parmezza.” She gestured behind her to Ulle and Jay, who had also gotten up and were slowly approaching the trio. “I even saw what you did to both Ulle and Jay and well…with your family too…” Calypso removed the hand from her face, some tears falling down her cheeks “I knew that if talking wasn’t going to get through you, one good punch was going to bring you back to reality…I just never wanted that to be the only option I had.”

“Yeah, me neither…” Scottie said a bit coldly and quickly approached Calypso, stunning Danny, Ulle and Jay. Calypso closed her eyes and waited for what she assumed would be a returning punch to her face, something she knew she deserved.

But instead, she felt the slim arms of Scottie wrap around her neck and pull her into a hug. She opened her eyes and looked at her fellow colleague, seeing the dry tear marks on their face. She gave them a knowing smile and returned the hug, careful not to crush them.

Scottie quickly pulled away, sniffled and rubbed their face with their arm. “…While I appreciate it though, It…It might take me a while to be around you again.” They said, rubbing their other arm and looking the other way. “You know…because of what you saw and did…”

Calypso nodded. “I understand, Scottie.” She said, putting her hands on her hips with a smile. “I won’t be too distressed over it; they are your boundaries after all. I promise not to look into your thoughts anymore, not unless you give me permission to do so.”

“Thank you…” They said, giving her a small smile before they turned to Danny. “So, you’re taking the three weeks unpaid because of us?”

Danny shrugged at first before he sighed and nodded, smiling. “Yeah…it wouldn’t be the same working in the kitchen without you guys.” He said with a small nervous chuckle. “I-I mean, it would be nice, s-since I wouldn’t be hearing you…well, shout at me again…”

Scottie looked down, a pained look of guilt in their eyes. “I’m sorry…” They said, tears welling up in their eyes. “I know I was doing so well up until that point, even though sometimes I still did shout at you before, but attacking you like that…it wasn’t right of me to do. I really shouldn’t have snapped on you like that…”

“I…I know…” Danny said quietly, reaching into his pocket to grasp the rose pin from Crusher. He was silent for a moment before saying, “Listen, when I was in the back, I wasn’t slacking off. Figaro showed me that BucketHat was hiding in one of the non-perishable pantries. And your sibling told me how worried they were about you…I knew I couldn’t be scared of you in that moment, because you have people who care for you, and were scared that…that something bad was really going to happen to you. And I didn’t want them to feel like they were going to lose you…”

Scottie looked up at him, just as the waiter pulled out the rose pin to show to them. The head chef recognized it and gasped. “That’s from Crusher before he…”

Danny nodded before he undid the clasp of the pin and placed it over his breast pocket, where his heart was. “Si…I pulled what courage and bravery he would have had in order to face you head on, Scottie.” He paused and groaned, holding his head and gritted his teeth. “And enough to put this stupid curse of mine to sleep for a while…” Danny’s hand shook as he held it out to Scottie, putting on a smile as best he could. “I…I’ve always been scared of you, Scottie. But when you started showing that side of you after what happened back on the Airship, the kindness you developed because of your family and friends, I knew you just needed time to figure things out. I want to help, but I don’t know how to do that for you. Will you please tell me how to?”

The head chef stared at Danny for a long moment before the tears fell down their face again, and they lunged forward, pulling Danny into a hug. “I…I’ll tell you how. But not right now…” They said quietly, squeezing him tightly. “But thank you for the offer, Danny. I really appreciate it.”

Danny wasn’t sure what to do but he returned the hug in an awkward manner, trying not to hug them close to him in case his curse pulled a fast one on him. “Nessun problema, Scottie.” He said as the chef pulled away from him. “I just…I just don’t want to be afraid anymore. When Crusher wakes up from his coma, I want to show him that I can also handle things on my own.”

They nodded, smiling at him. “He would still be very proud of you for today, Danny.” They said, patting his shoulder before walking towards the last two people they needed to speak with.

“Ulle, Jay…” Scottie started off, gripping their arm as they slowly approached their two friends. They paused, struggling to find the words to say to them. “I…I know what I did today was unacceptable…”

“Yup.” They both said in unison, both of their arms crossed in front of each other.

“A-And…And I know you won’t forgive me that easily. Especially since it was Ulle’s idea to make that cake…”

“Uh-huh.”

“And, and…” They kept struggling before they let out an exasperated sigh and covered their face with their hands. “I’m sorry, I really am! I know you were just trying to cheer me up and I should have just…not done what I did to you guys. Or even said what I said because…I didn’t really mean any of it.”

Both Jay and Ulle looked at each other before Jay placed their hands on their hips and gave a sly smile to Scottie. “So, would you say you’re an idiot chef who doesn’t know how to make a good apology?”

Ulle giggled and Scottie blushed, knowing that Jay was using the insults they had said earlier to their friends against them. They closed their eyes and sighed, clenching, and unclenching their fists. “…Yes, I am an idiot chef who can’t make a good apology.”

“Oh, oh! And would you say that you’re a crazy chef who just broods all the time and pays no attention to their friends’ feelings?” Ulle asked, hiding her smile behind her hands.

Scottie sighed and said through gritted teeth, “Yes, I’m a crazy chef who broods all the time and pays no attention to their friends’ feelings…”

The mischievous duo looked at each other while giggling before they both launched themselves at Scottie, trapping them in the middle of a hug. “That’s the Scottie we know and love!” They both shouted, resting their heads on their shoulders.

“H-Hey!” They shouted before they resigned to themselves to their fate, smiling. “Heh…you guys…”

“We missed you Scottie.” Ulle said quietly, a tear falling down her cheek, making the chef stiffen when they heard what she said. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, a sad look on her face. “I thought…I thought you were really going to change for the worse after all this…”

“We’re really glad you aren’t doing that.” Jay added, some of their tears staining the chef’s long-sleeve shirt. “We just…We just hope we can still be with you on your path to recovery. We don’t want to lose you…”

“I…” Scottie smiled and pulled them both to them, more tears falling down their face. “I don’t want to lose you guys either…I’m so sorry…”

The three friends slowly knelt to the ground, letting their tears fall together through their laughter and sobbing. Scottie looked up and held out to their hand to both Danny and Calypso, smiling at them.

The two colleagues looked at each other before they gave each other a small smile and joined the younger Toppats in the group hug, smiling and laughing with them.

As soon as the five of them separated, Scottie wiped away their tears and looked over to Danny, who was making sure his rose pin stayed on his shirt. “Hey, Danny?” They asked. “Was there any good news at least?”

“Hmm…Ah, si!” He snapped his fingers. “Your family is okay! While Wilhelm only had some minor injuries from the fighting, BucketHat wasn’t hurt at all.” His smile faltered a little. “Slice is doing okay…it wasn’t too bad of a cut, so he didn’t suffer too many injuries. I did hear, when he woke up, he was asking for you and wondering if you were okay.”

Knowing their family okay made the head chef relived, but they felt a pang to their heart when they heard about Slice. They nodded and started getting up. “I should go see them and tell them the news...” Scottie looked around the group for a moment before asking quietly, “Could you guys come with me to see them? I…I would feel much better if you did.”

Danny clapped his hands and nodded, Ulle and Jay both shook their heads up and down rapidly, and Calypso placed both hands on her hips, giving the chef a nod. “Anything for you to see your pops, Scottie.”

They smiled at their colleagues and friends, feeling that flicker of hope burn a little brighter in their heart.

“Thank you, all of you.” They gave the group another smile, tears of happiness peeking through the corners of their eyes. “Let’s go see them.”

—————

Epilogue

Reginald’s P.O.V.

The chief let out another sigh, as he and his right hand made their way to the Observatory, a folder tucked away under his left arm. Reginald first looked at Right, who was keeping his focus on the path ahead of them, but still gripping his husband’s hand tightly. The chief returned the squeeze his husband gave him before looking up on his left side at the tall Toppat on his other side.

Violin was also keeping his focus on the path ahead of him, but he kept his gaze downwards to hide the red colour in his eyes. He sniffed loudly and wiped his face, another tear falling down his cheek, his hand going back to his side while his other hand gripped the case that held Accordion’s prosthetics.

Reginald felt for his top performing enforcer, but he knew there was nothing else he could say to him or his husband. The only thing he could do was to deliver the news to his husband.

They finally reached the main doors to the Observatory after what seemed like an eternity. Right swiped his card for access and the trio of Toppats walked inside, down the stairs that led to the enclave where Accordion had been sitting in for the past two hours.

“Accordion…” Reginald started as he approached the other tall Toppat. “I have some news regarding what happened on your mission from earlier…” The chief trailed off when he saw that Accordion was looking away from the chief and shaking in the spot he sat in. Both Echo and Jingle were looking up at Accordion, confused looks on their screens and unsure of what they could do.

Reginald stared at the other Toppat before he watched Violin walk over to his husband, carefully sitting next to him, keeping one hand on his growing stomach, and setting the case with his prosthetics down gently. Once it was on the floor, the spirits of the Music Dragons shook the case before phasing through the metal material and surrounding the couple in various soft glows, as Violin threaded his fingers carefully through his husband’s hair, the tears starting to fall.

“I’m so sorry, Ollie…” Violin whispered, wrapping his arms around his husband and burying his face into his hair. “I’m so sorry…”

Accordion trembled before he let out a loud sob, almost feeling out of place for his character. But as he tried to hold his sobbing back, the more the tears fell down his scarred face. He didn’t hold back his emotions, but he let Violin hold him close. He tried to hold his husband close, despite the lack of his arms, pressing his forehead against his as Violin let his tears fall down his face, causing him to openly sob alongside his husband.

The chief and right hand watched the scene unfold, both feeling heartbroken for their fellow Toppats for the news they already knew without a word being said from them. Reginald sighed and looked down at the folder he had been carrying, opening it to reveal headlines from that same day of the mission.

“ARC MANSION EXPLODES AFTER TWO WEEKS OF BEING CRYSTALIZED BY AUSTRIAN SAPPHIRE GEM; NO KNOWN SURVIVORS”

“LONDON NEIGHBORHOOD DESTROYED FROM CANADIAN ROSE QUARTZ GEM TAKE OVER; COIL FAMILY THE ONLY CASUALTY”

Reginald flipped through the pages, seeing the photos that were taken of the mansion before it was destroyed, the neighborhood covered in an almost clean pink crystalized sheet, but somehow only killed one family; the parents of each family had been brutally murdered from what the chief could gather from the reports. All except for the father of Accordion, who’s body had been found in the nearby forest and picked clean by the animals of the forest.

Something nagged in the back of Reginald’s mind, and he knew Right Hand Man was thinking the same thing. However, they would need to save their speculations once Captain Oasis sent a crew from her division to help update their technology. While the captain had offered to give her services in finding the culprits who stole the Sapphire before them, Reginald made it clear that his division would be doing it, as it had now just become personal to them with the murders of two families connected with their clan members.

“I know Violin wished his siblings could see his children, especially that woman Ortensia…and Accordion just wanted to see his father one more time…” Reginald gripped the folder tightly, snapping it shut as a fury burned in his eyes. “They won’t get away with this. I swear it!”

The Right Hand Man pulled his husband close, tipping his hat down to hide away the same fury boiling up in his own eyes. All that the two leaders could do now was silently wait for their enforcers to finish grieving in the moment they had, the ghosts of their former clan doing their best to comfort them from what they had seen on their mission; the ruined mansion that held a few happy memories and the streets of their pasts destroyed by a powerful gem.

As the chief swore it, there would be Hell to pay when they find the people who stole the gems before they did and used it to hurt their own members in more ways than one.

Below a few floors of the Observatory, Slice groaned and opened his eyes just as the door to his room opened. Wilhelm and BucketHat looked up from the chairs they were sitting in by Slice’s bed, curious to see who would be visiting at the time of hour.

BucketHat gasped once the door fully opened, and they jumped from their chair and ran towards the visitor. “Scottie!” They cried out, running with their arms open to them. “You’re back!”

Scottie scooped their sibling up into their arms, smiling at them. “I never left…” They said softly, pulling his sibling’s hat down a little. “I think we should get you a better hat, huh?”

BucketHat laughed as Scottie made their way towards the bed that Slice laid on. Once Scottie placed BucketHat on the floor, the head chef looked at both Wilhelm and Slice, clasping both their hands together.

“I…I’m sorry–” Scottie started to say but they were stopped when Wilhelm pulled them close and into a hug between him and Slice. Despite the bandages around him, Slice was able to reach up and pull Scottie further into the hug, resting his against their shoulder.

“We love you so much, Scottie.” Slice whispered to them, tears falling down his face. “Please, never forget that, ever. You understand?”

Scottie was in shock. They had been expecting both of their dads to be upset with them, to scold and yell at them for what they had done. But after all they had done, they still loved them? The younger Toppat couldn’t help but let themselves cry and hug their parents back, being careful of their injuries. BucketHat carefully climbed onto the bed and joined the group hug, also crying with their family.

As the family held each other tightly, Scottie’s friends watched from the doorway, feeling happier for their friend than ever before. Although Ulle heard a small distant cry from above her, she shook her head and continued to watch the scene before her with a smile. Jay laid their head against Ulle, grinning toothily, while Calypso and Danny gave each other a small fist bump.

“I…I love you guys too.” Scottie said, hiccupping as they held their family close. “T-Thank you…Thank you for everything…”

The flickering light of hope burned much brighter in Scottie’s heart. And they smiled, feeling the surge of happiness in their heart as they remembered the quote Accordion told them.

“At the end of everything, hold on to anything.”

“I definitely will hold on to anything…” They whispered to themselves, feeling a peace settle within them. “Anything to stay alive for them and for myself…”

–––––––––––––––––––

Happy early Father’s Day gang! If you made it to the end, I commend you! I enjoyed writing this, despite the insanity me and my brain put ourselves through writing this in two days, and I hope you enjoyed reading this too!

[bluetorchsky]

*yeets this out of the void* have a blurry Echo and Jingle *slips back into the void*

[bluetorchsky]

A small study on Echo and Jingle's looks. I've designed them in a way that is based off what animators have to study: the flour sack.

Jingle's form is based on a vertically standing flour sack, but Echo's form is based off more when the flour sack is horizontal. A bit more difficult but I will try my best.

You can see their corners waving, like the ends of an animator's flour sack. Technically it should be impossible for them to move their corners in that way, like in a twisting fashion, but they were created and made by magic users, so we'll just roll with it

[jaytoons7]

AHHH! Poor Ulle went through it! But at least she's okay now (And got to meet the people she's always wanted to).

Bathed in memories (Part 1/2)

Ulle has been with the Toppat Clan for over a month, but still hasn't gathered up the courage to talk to the couple who share the same magic as she does. She wants to know more about her magic and how to use it, but she wants to know if they know anything about her mother...She's going to find out, one way or another!

Words: Around 6k, so it's very long (Ao3 mirror link soon)

Triggers: If you're afraid of the deep ocean, there will be the ocean in here. Plus nightmare in the beginning

Characters: Accordion, Violin, Echo and Jingle (They/the and It/Its) and Shelly Burns belong to me

Ulle Meadows and Jay Benson (and mention of Scottie) belong to @jaytoons7

Mentions of Ezhno Nies belongs to @dark-twist-fairytales

Ulle opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times. Where was she? 

She thought about sitting up and looking around at her surroundings, but she didn’t feel like it. Where she was lying down, on top of a something flat, it felt comfortable. Ulle lifted her head and looked down, seeing she was still in her Toppat uniform, and saw…water. The endless expanse of the ocean stared back at her, the waters slowly starting to become rough, the sky turning darker with each passing second.

Her eyes widened and she tried to will her body to move. “Come on, come on!” She struggled, shivering when she felt her hair touch the cold liquid. “D-Damnit!”

She managed to lift her arms and legs a little, but she still couldn’t budge. As she tried to move, she felt the platform she was lying on starting to sink. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a thick platform as she thought it was, so it sank like a broken twig sinking to the bottom.

Ulle struggled to stay afloat, trying to keep her head above water. Try as she might, she couldn’t fight against the currents trying to push her down. She couldn’t even try and summon her weapon to act as way to keep her afloat. What didn’t help her concentration to stay above water were sounds that she wasn’t familiar with. It sounded like an animal, but she couldn’t tell what it was. They were mixed with the melody of song that sounded faraway…or right below her.

With no other choice, as another wave smashed into her, Ulle took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Another current washed over her and took her underneath the water’s surface. Her white top hat was the only thing that stayed floating while she sunk beneath the surface.

Ulle heard the music and animal sounds grow louder and louder, but she couldn’t figure out the melody. She was running out of air to hold onto. She struggled to go back up, but her body still would not move the way she wanted. Finally, she let go of the air she held and let the weight of the water bring her down.

Before she passed out, a pair of large round pink eyes opened and stared at her from the darkness, followed by smaller pairs of eyes of different colours. Her vision went dark as soon as the air left her lungs, sinking deeper and deeper in the blackness of the ocean floor.

–––––––––

Ulle woke up with a start, sweat running down her forehead. She pushed the blankets off her body, patting herself down to make sure she wasn’t hurt or even worse, wet from the ocean that was plaguing her mind. When she saw that she was still in her room on the Airship, she let out a sigh of relief.

“That dream again…It must be a sign of something.” Ulle thought to herself as she got out of bed. “Grandma always said to watch out for signs, they could be anywhere…Could it be mom trying to tell me something?"

The thought of her grandmother and mother brought some tears to her eyes, but she wiped them away and started getting ready for the day.

Once she was dressed, she grabbed her ukulele and was about to put it over her shoulders, but she paused and stared at it. A faint smile crossed her lips, her fingers brushing over the wooden rainbow-colored instrument. It had belonged to her mother, which had been given to her by her grandmother as soon as she showed her own prowess for Music Magic.

Her fingers stopped and hovered over the strange mark on the back of the ukulele. It was a circular logo of a dragon with music notes coming out of its mouth. Ulle thought back to what her grandmother had told her before about this special mark.

"Music Dragons?" A young Ulle asked her grandmother, watching her cut her apple into small slices. "What's that?"

"Not what, but who, sweetie." Her grandmother replied, as she finished slicing the apples. "They were a group of people who your mother called her...extended family" She laughed before looking down at Ulle with a smile. “They have powers just like you, sweetheart…”

"Really?" Ulle jumped up and down. "Can I meet them grandma? Can I, Can I, pleeeeease?"

Her grandmother laughed, reaching down to pat her head. "One day, Ulle. One day you will..."

In the present moment, Ulle opened her eyes and glanced down at the logo on the instrument once again, a few tears hitting the instrument.

She had always wanted the Music Dragons, the clan that her mother had joined when she was still alive. Even after she had left, her grandmother said her mother would receive small little gifts from the clan. But those things had been lost ever since her mother had been murdered. When she learned about this, Ulle hoped that one day she would get to meet her mother’s old clan and ask not only what they knew about her mother, but if they knew anything about that day.

But when she heard that the clan had been wiped out, Ulle was afraid they were killed by the same person who killed her mother. She never thought about the Music Dragons clan again, until she joined The Toppat Clan. The day she boarded the Airship, that’s when she felt it: the feeling of a melody running through her blood, and the sounds of a symphony ringing in her ears.

She remembers running away from the chief for a moment, running down unfamiliar hallways until she spotted two Toppat members chatting with someone that would become her first friend in the clan, Jay Benson. When Jay had seen her and tried to introduce her to the other two members, she ran away. After she settled in, any time she would see them she had ran in the direction, feeling scared to even say hi to them. They emitted an aura so strong, she thought she would get lost in whatever melody played in her ears when she was around them.

On this day, Ulle would not run this time.

"I’m done running from what scares me. This time..." Ulle spoke, a fire lighting up in her pink eyes, pumping a fist in the air. "This time, I'll surely meet them!"

–––––––––

"I CAN'T DO THIS." Ulle cried out before hiding behind one of the crates, pulling her top hat to cover her eyes. "Nope, I'm not doing it!"

Jay shook his head, lowering himself so he could sit next to the shaking Ulle. "Come on, you said this would be the day you would go meet them. You can’t back out now!"

"I know, but, but–" She let out a frustrated groan and waved her hand over the crate, towards the small group of Toppats that were a few feet away from them. "Just, look at them Jay!"

Ulle and Jay had come to the Cargo Bay, following the tailcoats of two certain tall and large Toppats that were patrolling the Airship's hallways. It was 10:30 in the morning, the second rounds of inspection for the recent supply drop being done by none other than Accordion and Violin, two of the clan's top enforcers. And two of the tallest people Ulle had ever met. Not including the people she knew were dragons, of course.

These two Toppats were ones that Ulle had been wanting to meet ever since she joined the clan...about almost a month ago. The two Toppats that caused her nerves to become frazzled with excitement, making her hear musical notes in different pitches, and sometimes even hear voices of different people humming and singing in her ears.

Chipper and happy as she was, seeing the couple from a distance coming close to her made her flee into a different area. She wasn't that afraid to meet them. It’s just, she was just absolutely, very much, just a tiny bit terrified to even say hello. Compared to how she first met Jay, and afterwards Scottie, this was something entirely different for her. They had Music Magic, just like her! So, it really should have been simple, right?

Ulle whimpered and ducked behind the crates again. She was grateful they hadn’t heard her or Jay in the busy environment of the Cargo Bay. The enforcers and the Cargo crew were currently receiving a load from the Toppat’s Marine Division. A Marine Toppat, named Shelly, had used one of the division’s aircrafts to meet the main division in the air. Since it was a small load, there was no reason to land to receive it since it would waste precious fuel, accordion to Sven Svensson.

Jay looked at Ulle with sympathy. “Hey, if it’s too hard right now, maybe you could talk to Ezhno.” They said, referring to their planner partner. “I’ve mentioned him before. He’s one of the few Toppats to have gotten close with them since they both joined. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you asked him about them.”

She gave it some thought before shaking her head. “Thanks, but no thanks. At least for now! I…I gotta do this or I won’t ever do it!” Ulle said. She took in a breath before letting it go and stood up, albeit a bit shakily. “Okay, let’s do this!”

Ulle and Jay moved closer to the group of Toppats, who were currently surrounding the 5”5 ft. Toppat from the sea. She was looking up at Accordion and Violin, her arms crossed and a scowl on her freckled face.

“I don’t believe you all.” Shelly Burns said and flipped her braid back, which was adorned with small pearls. She glared at the other Toppats surrounding the couple. “There is no way that these two would know the song I’m thinking about right now. It’s way too specific!”

“Come on, give them a chance!” Cuppa Joe said, slapping Shelly on the back. “They have Music Magic, they know everything when it comes to all the music genres!” “Oh, I don’t know about that Joe…” Violin said, a small blush on his scarred face. “We were only with our previous clan for such a short time, compared to the others…”

“Aw, don’t be so humble!” Cuppa Joe waved his hand before snapping his fingers. “Hey, why don’t you show Shelly those two cute little guys of yours? I bet they would know the song she’s talking about.”

The other Toppats in the group gave their agreements to the idea, some of them excited to see these “two cute little guys” that belonged to Accordion and Violin. Shelly’s expression barely budged from being unimpressed, but she did raise an eyebrow.

The two enforcers looked at each other. Accordion’s eyebrows creased and he tilted his head at his lover, his mouth raising in a scowl. Violin smiled up at him and clasped his left hand, intertwining their fingers together, and squeezed it. It took a moment, but Accordion sighed before turning to the other Toppats and nodded.

A small cheer came from the crowd of Toppats, while Shelly rolled her eyes. As the Cargo Crew started making some space, Ulle and Jay quietly joined the crowd. Most of the Cargo Crew were taller than the two friends, so it made it easier to hide behind them and not blow their cover.

Accordion summoned his instrument, clapping his hands together and pulling them apart, the dark reds and greys of the accordion materializing in the space in-between them. Cuppa Joe elbowed Shelly with a grin. “Check this out!”

At first, Shelly looked to the side, ignoring Cuppa Joe’s comment and the magic being performed in front of her. But eventually she and the other Toppats, including Ulle and Jay, watched Accordion play a song while whistling a few notes. As the short song came to an end, a swirling portal of many bright colours, just like the galaxy at night, appeared in front of him and Violin. Two Toppats quickly pushed a couple of crates just underneath the portal, just as it fully materialized.

There was a moment of silence before the sounds of small tapping noises filled the Cargo Bay. What came out of the portal was not what Shelly expected, making her eyebrows shoot up, but it made Ulle’s eyes widened and gasp with a smile.

“Jay…they’re both so cute!” The ukulele player cried in a whisper, shaking Jay’s side.

A pastel blue, red and yellow boombox along with a mint-colored music player waddled out of the swirling portal, both yawning and their screens lighting up to show their faces. They only had a pair of eyes and a mouth, but when they saw the small crowd around them, their eyes lit up and their mouths turned into big grins.

“H-Hi! H-Hi! E-Echo! M-Me E-Echo!” The boombox shouted, waving both of its top corners towards the Toppats. It turned to the music player and waved its corners at it. “J-Jingle! J-Jingle!”

The music player chirped and twirled in its spot, waving its corners at everyone. “H-Hi!” It said. It continued repeating the greeting while walking towards the crowd, who were “awing” and “ohhing” at the music devices. Jingle giggled, not realizing it was close to the edge of the crate it was on.

Shelly gasped and she quickly moved closer to catch Jingle, just as it stepped off the crate it was on. She breathed a sigh of relief before she felt the music player vibrate and laugh in a static-like voice, while also sounding like different kinds of people laughing.

“A-Again! A-Again!” It cried out to Shelly, giggling like a child.

“H-Huh…Very interesting little ones you have, Accordion and Violin.” Shelly said, carefully placing Jingle next to Echo. Both music devices looked up at her, their big grins still on their screens. She cleared her throat before putting her hands behind her back. “Well, let’s see if they can guess the song I’m thinking of…”

She cleared her throat again and started to whistle a few notes before humming a melody. Ulle listened to the song, thinking how Shelly had a charming voice, almost luring her into her space. But then she recognized the melody from the dream she had earlier.

“Wait…that song!” Ulle gasped and started pushing her way forward, trying to get close and ask Shelly about it.

“Ulle, hold on!” Jay called after her, but they lost their balance as the Airship jolted. Ulle lost her balance and she ended up bumping into the Marine Toppat, causing her to stop singing.

“OI!” Shelly shouted, her Scottish accent kicking in. “Carson a bha an ifrinn?!”

“I-I-I-” Ulle stuttered, trying to come up with an apology.

Shelly glared at Ulle before she shoved her away. “Watch whaur yer gaun!”

“Ah!” Ulle cried. She fell backwards and hit the wall behind her. As she rubbed her head and pushed away from the wall, her hand hit the buttons that opened the Airship’s doors. As the metal doors retracted up, the PA system sounded from above the Toppats.

“Chief Reginald here. I’m trying to avoid being detected by some Government drones. We’ll deal with them as quickly as possible so, for now, hold on to something while I employ some evasive maneuvers.”

“Ah! Ulle, get the door, get the door!” Jay called, running towards her but they slid to the side as the Airship began dipping downwards. The other Toppats, and the things in the Cargo Bay, began sliding all over the place, including the crates that Echo and Jingle were on. Ulle turned back to the console, fear in her eyes, as she tried to close the open door.

“W-Woah! W-Woah!” Echo shouted and let out a gleeful laugh, as they and Jingle began sliding around in circles. “F-Fun! F-Fun!”

“Not fun, Echo! Not fun!” Violin yelled. He had grabbed a pole with his left hand and grabbed other Toppats with his right, letting them climb and cling to his body, or onto the pole, as he tried to stay upright. He looked over at his husband. “Accordion!”

With a low grunt, Accordion shakily stood up and started moving towards the sliding crates, but he kept having to stop and turn on his heel, as the crates kept going in circles around him. He cursed to himself and tried to summon his instrument once more, but he felt something wasn’t right. He looked down at his arms and pulled back his gloves a bit, his eyebrows shooting up at the dull-looking charms etched over the red crystal that made his prosthetics.

“No…what’s going on?” Accordion whispered to himself, his hands shaking as he tried to summon his magic but to no avail.

All the Cargo Crew Toppats were now grabbing onto Violin or the pole he was gripping, as Jay finally made their way to Ulle. They gripped one of the poles attached to the wall, the wind and air threatening to push them away from their friend. “Ulle, come on!” They shouted over the rushing wind as they held onto their top hat. “It has to be one of those buttons!”

“I-I’m trying Jay!” Ulle shouted in panic, eyes frantically searching the panel.

“MOVE!” Shelly shoved Ulle. “Ah will dae it!”

What Shelly didn’t realize she had done was when she shoved Ulle, the music magic user got shoved, hard, into the area of where the door was open, her ukulele flew off her body and landed near one of the vehicles. The truck had unfortunately not been tied down and it slide down, rolling out of the Airship. In an instant, the instrument was crushed underneath the weight of the vehicle, as it landed on its side and disappeared.

“NOOO!” Ulle shouted, feeling a course of pain strike her body like a lightning shot. She lowered her head, a few tears escaping her eyes. “N-No…”

Violin sensed the musical instrument being broken, almost losing his grip on the pole. He casted a look to where Ulle was, seeing the pieces of the ukulele near her. “Oh no…” He said quietly, his voice shaking.

Ulle tried to stand up but then realized too late that she should have stayed on the floor. The Airship tilted upwards, causing Violin and the other Toppats to hang a little bit from the pole that the enforcer was gripping very tightly. Accordion was snapped out of his thoughts as he fell forward, crashing to the ground and rolled towards Jay and Shelly, who were both arguing about the panel and about Shelly’s treatment towards Ulle. Then they saw the large Toppat rolling towards them, and they both jumped to one side, avoiding getting hit by him. Accordion’s body hit the panel, miraculously not destroying it but hitting the button that needed to close the door, damaging it slightly.

As for the musical Toppat herself, Ulle’s eyes widened when the two crates Echo and Jingle were on slid towards her, at a very fast speed. The music devices screamed with a happy terror in their voices, not realizing the danger they were in. Before she could move out of the way, the crates slammed into her, hard, and she fell out of the Airship, with Echo and Jingle following with screams of joy, and her broken ukulele tumbling out of the aircraft.

“ECHO! JINGLE!” Violin shouted, the fear rising in his voice.

The pole he held tightly broke under the strain he was putting on it, but Violin and the Cargo Crew didn’t fall that far. The Airship had returned to a level position, causing the items that were sliding around to stop moving. Jay and Shelly quickly scrambled to a standing position, with Jay going over to Accordion and shaking him.

“Accordion, get up!” Jay cried, tears forming at the corner of their eyes. “Ulle fell off the ship with Echo and Jingle! We need to get them back!”

As the larger Toppat started getting up, Shelly heard grating noises and looked up to see the door starting to come down. She quickly rushed over to panel, as Accordion started leaning against the wall for support, and she tried hitting the button to keep the door open.

“It’s not working!” Shelly shouted. She turned to Jay and Accordion, her eyes widening. “I can’t keep it open! The panel is too damaged!”

Jay looked around, trying to see if he could find something, anything to help. “W-We gotta contact the chief and Right!” He said, looking to the Cargo Bay crew. “Guys, come on! There has to be something in here–”

The heist planner was interrupted by one of Accordion’s heavy grunts, making him look up and gasp. As the door was halfway to closing, the larger Toppat got underneath the metal door and started pushing back against it, gritting his teeth as he braced against the moving mechanism. He closed his eyes for a moment before re-opening them, hearing the familiar grunt of his husband joining him by his side. He smiled at his husband before he looked down at the Marine Toppat with a scowl, who had been looking up at him in shock.

“What are you waiting for?!” Accordion shouted, the anger and rage in his voice rising as he stared down the marine. “Get in your hovercraft and GO GET HER!”

Shelly swallowed, fear and terror, and a hint of admiration in her eyes as she saluted. “Y-Yes sir!”

–––––––––

Ulle screamed as she fell from the Airship to the ground below her. She tried looking for something, anything to help her. Without her ukulele, she couldn’t try to slow down her falling speed. She couldn’t even open her mouth to use Song Casting, a technique she was still getting used to with her training. Training she wished she could have done earlier with Accordion and Violin…

She shook her head, ignoring the wind whipping against her skin and feeling like cuts to her face. She had one more trick up her sleeve, but she needed to grab the musical devices first. Swallowing and pushing down her fears and wiping her eyes, Ulle opened her pink eyes, flashing with determination, and she dove closer to whatever was waiting below her.

It didn’t take that long to find the devices, as it was easy to hear where they were. Just a few feet away from her, the musical electronics were spinning themselves in the air, screaming and giggling form the freefall. Ulle dived closer to them, reaching out to them with her hand.

“Almost…got you!” She grabbed Echo and Jingle and held them close in her arms.

Echo and Jingle seemed dejected by the end of their freefall, but when they looked up at Ulle, they both gasped and started waving their top corners. “O-Out! L-Look O-Out!”

She looked over her shoulder and screamed, diving to the side before the end of a tank’s barrel almost hit here. Her eyes widened at the pure white vehicle falling. “WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE THAT?!”

Taking a moment from almost being clobbered in the head by a tank, Ulle looked around before she looked down once more and saw through the clouds that she, and the other cargo items, were falling towards the ocean. A flashing image of her nightmare crossed her mind. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.

“No…not this time!” With a cry, Ulle started transforming into her dragon form. Echo and Jingle stared up at Ulle with wide eyes, making awe like noises through their static-like voices.

However, before Ulle could let her wings unfurl, she was hit by one of the crates and she lost her concentration, becoming unconscious. The impact caused her to revert into her human form and made her fall faster towards the jaws of the never-ending ocean. Falling after her were Echo and Jingle, and a small group of multi-colored orbs…

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When Ulle opened her eyes, she found herself clinging to a large piece of a broken crate. She lifted her head, scanning the area around her, before she groaned.

She was floating in the ocean, just like in her dream. She wasn’t lying on a piece of flat wood at least, but Echo and Jingle, and her ukulele were nowhere to be seen…until she saw her instrument float towards her, broken in two. The image of her ukulele getting crushed by the tuck snapped her awake.

“No…NO!” She cried, fumbling over the piece she was clinging onto, grasping the neck and the body of her instrument. Ulle looked at both pieces, tears forming in the corner of her eyes as the skies above started to darken with dark gray clouds. What was once the only thing that kept her close to her mother, to her family, was now broken.

With no one else around, and with no sign of help coming, Ulle lowered her head and pressed her cheek against the rough wooden piece, letting her tears fall and become one with the cold water lapping at her skin.

“U-Ulle! U-Ulle!”

The musician lifted her head, blinking her tears away. The little musical devices were on another piece of floating wood, letting the current take them closer to Ulle. She watched them come closer but noticed something strange. She wiped her face and lifted her head some more, squinting.

The rain that was starting to come down did not deter her gaze as she saw a group of floating magical orbs following Echo and Jingle. It even looked like they were pushing the small make-shift raft towards her. The floating orbs, once seen by Ulle, quickly moved into Echo, phasing into its body. Her eyes widened as Echo kept calling out to her, but its voice started to change in something more…human.

“U-Ulle! U-Ulle! Ul…Ulle.” Echo’s screen changed from its pleasing pastel blue to a cool and calming pink, completely erasing its face. It made the raindrops that hit its screen unsettling. “Ulle, can you hear me?” The voice, with a heavy Italian accent, asked.

“Y-Yes?” Ulle spoke, her voice hoarse.

Echo was silent until the screen’s color changed to a bright orange, the voice changing to one with a German accent. “Ulle, you must go under! We cannot help you up here.”

Ulle’s eyes widened. “W-What?! No! I-I won’t! I can’t!”

The screen’s colour changed again to a bright green, the voice now with an Irish accent. “Ach, lassie! Do as he says! We don’t have time!”

The colour changed to a gradient of purple and yellow, a Canadian accent following. “Please, please dear! Your mother’s instrument, it can’t stay broken for too long!”

The mention of her mother made Ulle hold the pieces closer to her, her eyebrows creasing as the rain started to come down faster. “I…I…”

The screen started changing colours rapidly, from yellow to orange to greento blue and to red, each voice with a different accent shouting at her to go under–it was becoming too much for Ulle to handle. She let out a pained cry and covered her eyes.

“ENOUGH!” The voice with the Italian accent shouted, the screen stopping on the calming pink once again. Silence filled the air, only broken by the sounds of the rain hitting the wooden pieces and Ulle’s crying. Echo moved forward, one of its corners touching her elbow.

“Ulle, per favore.” The voice spoke. “Your dream will still happen, but it will not kill you.”

She looked up and gasped. “What? How do you–”

“Having powers to see the future can come in handy.” Echo looked up at her, the blank pink screen staring at her. “Especially when your mother had her own feeling that she would not be around to see you grow into the woman you are.”

Ulle stared at Echo and whoever was speaking through the boombox. Slowly, she lifted herself as best she could and brought Echo and Jingle, who was quiet but shared the same screen colour as, close to her.

She stared at the pink screen of Echo for a moment before closing her eyes and nodding. “Okay…”

Her answer given, the pink colour disappeared from the screen and Echo’s face and pastel blue colour returned. It shook itself, like a human shaking its head, before staring up at Ulle. It lifted its corners and asked, “R-Request?”

“…The song Shelly was whistling in the Airship. Can…can you play it, Echo?” She asked timidly.

Echo smiled and bowed. “Y-Yes!” It said before its face changed to the name of the song Shelly had wanted the two devices to guess: Bathed in Sound.

Ulle let go of the piece of wood she was holding onto, took in a deep breath, and let the current wash over, pushing her down. She closed her eyes as the lyrics were sang to her, in that Italian voice from earlier.

Closed my eyes

Went to sleep

And drifted downwards

Ulle clutched Echo and Jingle, holding her breath as she sank lower to the bottom of the floor. She looked around, feeling that there was something waiting for her…

I dreamt of whales floating there

All bathed in sound

Her eyes widened when she saw a one big yellow eye open from the darkness and stared down at her. Ulle struggled to swim back up, but then she felt one of Echo’s corner’s touch her chin. She looked down at it before looking back up at the eye. They looked down at her before closing and opening again.

All wrapped in plankton

And glinting green

The creature made a deep, echoing sound and moved forward, revealing itself to be a large whale, covered in barnacles and surrounded by the small little plankton creatures swimming around it. The large whale looked mostly normal, except that most of its body was covered in scales, sparkling and glittering in green. Its body shimmered, like an illusion, as it made a loud call to the creatures around it.

Drifting onwards

Through shifting seas

Some more whales appeared and started circling Ulle and the devices, calling out to her in their language. One of them opened its mouth and made a large air bubble close to Ulle. She was sucked into it, just as she needed to open her mouth to release the air she’d been holding in. When she realized that she could breathed, she smiled at the whale who made the bubble.

Closed my eyes

Went to sleep

And drifted downwards

“Woah…” Ulle gasped softly, now getting a good look at her new surroundings. The bottom of the ocean wasn’t as dark as she thought it was. As she continued to descend, she saw the beautiful bright coral reefs, the living sea life in plants and different creatures, schools of fishes swimming around her bubble, letting Ulle get a good look at each one.

I dreamt of whales

Floating there

All bathed in sound

As the bubble continued its descent, getting closer to the ocean floor, Jingle nudged Ulle and she looked down at where it was pointing. Ulle saw the smaller whales circling the area where the bubble would land. She looked closer and saw that the broken pieces of her instrument had reached the floor before her, waiting in the middle of the circling whales.

All wrapped in plankton

And floating round us

Suddenly, Echo’s body jolted, and the magical orbs left Echo’s body, moving down to where the whales were waiting. They started circling over the broken instrument, making it glow under their presence. The smaller whale that made the bubble left its group and swam in front of a cave, making its call out to whatever was inside.

Alive with purpose

And with a will

A pair of yellow eyes opened in the cave’s darkness, followed by streams of bubbles coming out of its snout. Ulle watched with wide eyes as the creature slowly revealed itself, carefully stepping out of its cave and walked forward to open clearing, leaving behind large reptile-like footprints. They walked on all fours, it’s body covered in glittering green scales like the large whale, but dotted with bright colours like silver, blue and even gold. Its tail and body showed stories of battles and fights it had endured, deep and faded scars from humans, machines, and magic alike. Its wings were rough like its body, they stayed closed the entire time but Ulle saw patterns of crystal that adorned it. The creature stared at Ulle, a smile forming on its snout as its whiskers danced in the water.

“A dragon? Oh my gods!” Ulle cried out, pressing her face against the bubble’s shield. “I-I can’t believe! Another one…like me…”

Oh the wonder of that wild wet world

Of that wild wet world

Beneath

The dragon observed Ulle and the devices, letting out a deep hum and growl as the bubble finally landed on the ocean floor. It didn’t pop but it rested against the sandy floor. This allowed the dragon to step forward, making the small whales swim away, and lift its paw up to press on the bubble. Ulle shielded herself, but soon realized that the dragon was not going to harm her. Instead, when its paw rested in top of the bubble, the dragon let out a low roar, causing a light blue aura to surround itself.

The aura travelled to the bubble, causing it to expand outward. It became bigger, making itself into a dome that allowed Ulle to stand up and move. She carefully set the devices down and gasped, seeing the floating orbs glow brighter and brighter. Ulle covered her eyes with a cry, looking away from the bright glow. When the light faded, Ulle slowly lowered her hands and gasped, her hands stopping over open mouth.

In front of her, the orbs had transformed into fourteen different people. Each one of them were transparent, like a spirit, and in different colours, the colours she had seen flashing on Echo’s screen. Two of them were holding the broken pieces of her ukulele, which were still glowing, with the shorter, pink spirit finishing the final lyrics of the song.

Oh the wonder of that wild wet world

Of that wild wet world

Beneath

Slowly, the broken pieces merged and repaired itself under the hands of the pink and orange ghosts. In a flash of light the ukulele was fixed and brand new, its rainbow colours almost shining within the dome. The other ghosts floated in the air, cheering for the person who fixed the instrument.

Ulle stared at all the ghosts before she approached the short pink ghost, her hands clasped together. “Um…M-May I have that back, please?” She asked in a timid voice.

The ghost looked up at her, his transparent eyes staring into her own pink ones. The ghost looked up at the orange ghost before they closed their eyes. “Un momento…” They said and held their hand over the ukulele, as did the orange ghost, and they both spoke in unison.

“Once a member of our family, may Aria Meadow’s blessings keep you untouched from the dangers of the world, be it by mortal or magic means. May our blessings, as the leaders of the clan she was once part of, keep this instrument intact, until the day her daughter passes on to join her mother.”

Ulle gasped as a pink and orange aura surrounded both herself and the instrument. She felt herself being lifted upwards for a bit before she returned to stand on the sandy ocean floor. She felt the magical auras leave her body before it was replaced with another familiar sensation. Stronger than the last time.

“Music pumping in my veins…harmonies and songs in my ears…” Ulle whispered before shaking her head, looking at the ghost. “You guys…”

The pink ghost smiled at Ulle, holding out her ukulele to her. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Ulle…We have much to discuss..."

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Song used: Bathed in Sound by Cosmo Sheldrake

(Part 2 coming soon)

[jaytoons7]

AHHHH I'M GONNA SOB/very pos!! I LOVE THESE HUSBANDS SO MUCH!

THSC OC – You Are Here (And You Are Love) (2/2)

Summary: An inner turmoil digs deep into the soul of one of the Music Enforcers, Accordion. Despite coming back from a successful mission, to him everything still went wrong–and it was all his fault. But does he truly believe that? Or has hauntings of his past finally caught up to him, after recent events made him dig up a question he buried long ago: “Why am I even here?”

Rating: Teen

Genres: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama (slight drama)

Trigger Warnings for Chapter two: Depictions of Physical Abuse, Nightmares (First part of the story), Violence, Self-Deprecation talk, Panic Attacks and Anxiety Attacks (General warning)

Word count for this chapter: 7.4k words

Accordion, Violin, Aurelia, Florence, Vivian, Lucifer, Dr. Clara Life, Dr. Whitespade, Echo, Jingle, Crumb and Morsel belong to me. Every other character is from The Henry Stickmin universe.

Chapter one

(Note: I apologize if this is dialogue heavy, but this is meant to be the dialogue part. Also apologize if the ending is a bit abrupt, Trynna finish this before work)

He imagines a young boy, face smooth and free from any scars and with his limbs still strong and intact. The young boy is curled up into a ball as everything was used to break him. Metal pipes, spiked bats, wooden stakes, nags of bricks, searing stokers prodding every bit of skin uncovered and ripe for marking, and just about anything that would leave a lasting impression on the boy’s body.

It would only stop once the ringleader heard his bones snap and break from the repeated hits. And just when the young boy thought it was all over, the ringleader–a mother he once knew–forced her husband to heal all his wounds so that they may practice the same act again, and again, and again until the rich and greedy things grew tired of the same show he was forced to put on for them.

But this time, the husband refused to heal his son. Instead, he tried to attack the ringleader but instead, he had his cheek carved and sliced by the very blade he once gave her. A small little knife to remember him by; now he would only remember it as a weapon to keep him in line. He was thrown next to the boy and the show resumed. Everything used to break the boy was now being used on him. 

The boy tried to scream, beg, plead for the ringleader to stop but his voice had left him. His throat was raw and strained from the times he tried to hide his screams but it was forced out of him regardless. When a pipe was about to hit him, the boy was quickly pulled into his father’s arms, who absorbed the hard blow to his back. The young boy couldn’t fight back and he had to let himself be held as the show continued on and on for an eternity.

When the curtain fell over them, the father would slowly get up and pick up his son into his arms, despite his own wounds and bruises protesting him to just sleep and never wake up. Somehow he would make it to the boy’s room and place him on his bed, and do his best to heal him before sleep took them into her arms. He was ashamed and guilty for letting this show still go on, but he could not fight the ringleader back. Not on his own anyways.

The boy cried no matter what. He cried when he was brought back to his room and he cried when his father tried to heal him. But it wasn’t just for the pain he was feeling, but he cried for his father too. His father had no more tears left to give, so the boy was his voice to let out the pain and agony he felt. Although the father couldn’t cry, he would take the boy into his arms and lie in bed with him, soothing his own pain with songs and lullabies that brought back a familiar but alien comfort, repeating words that made him relax and close his eyes easier.

Oliver sees the young boy as himself, the husband as his own father, Lucifer, and the ringleader and her crew as his mother, Vivian. Every night, every time he watched this scene unfold, he would take his younger self and father into his own arms, as he became larger and bigger than their home, teeth bared and wings unfurling across the sky as the red scales of his dragon body glistened and shined under the bright moonlight.

He would fly them away into a deep forest and hide them in a house built just for the two of them. And when they could sleep without having to cry, he would go back to that awful place called home and break everything with his claws, fangs, tail, and paws–slam the earth and make the foundation rumble and crack, scream until the glass shards imbedded themselves into the ringleader’s crew, his aunts and uncles, and grab each and every one of those actors and tear them apart in his mouth, savouring each and every scream like a haunted melody. 

And when he closed his eyes one last time, it would all disappear and he was left free falling into the void. No matter how many times he wished he could go back and change what had happened to him, it always ended the same way.

Falling into the maw of the beast that carried the unknown, and letting darkness consume his whole being, the screams and cries of his younger self becoming louder and louder and louder until–

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“Ah, looks like he’s waking up.”

“Oliver!”

“Careful with him, Trent. He’s going to need a lot of rest and time to recover after this.”

“And so do you.”

“But–” 

“I know you’ve been hiding crap from me, ArcCoil. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard just like he has, it is completely irresponsible what the two of you are doing!”

“Oi! Lay off him, will ya?”

Oliver slowly opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times to adjust to the new light shining above him. Looking up at the ceiling before he blinked once more and tried to get up. As he tried to move his arms, he realized he couldn’t feel his hands. He looked down at his body and saw that in addition to not having his prosthetics, he didn’t have his turtleneck on, but he was still wearing his pants. He spotted his prosthetics sitting in a suitcase made for it, right at the end of the bed. His focus was averted when he heard someone’s voice speaking to him.

“We had to remove your prosthetics for now, Oliver. You need to rest, and your body has gone through enough trauma these past few weeks.”

He looked up to his side. Dr. Clara was sitting next to his bed on his right side holding a clipboard in her hands. She was writing down some notes, her red cross earrings shining beneath the room’s lights. Although he can only see part of her face, he could tell that she was upset even if she wasn’t physically showing it.

“I–” He started to say before his throat tightened and he started coughing violently. Immediately, he felt a hand gently push him back against the pillows. It was warm over his chest, a more welcoming feeling that soothed his racing heart. Oliver looked up to his left and his eyes widened. “Trent…”

Now that he was not desperately trying to shake his husband out of his panic attack, Trent looked absolutely awful. His mascara that he applied earlier was now messed up because of his tears, his eyes were completely red from crying and his cheeks stained with tear tracks, and he wasn’t in his usual uniform. He didn’t expect him to be when he saw him again, but it was strange to see him wearing a baggy shirt, yoga pants and without his hat. Oliver squinted his eyes and carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“...You’re wearing one of my shirts.” He murmured looking at him.  

Trent sniffed and wiped his left eye with the heel of his hand. “I know…I’m sorry for taking it.” He said softly.

Before he could try and say something, Dr. Clara cleared her throat to get Oliver’s attention. He looked up and watched her stand up from her chair to stand in front of him and Trent. He was able to look around the room, now realizing it to be his and Trent’s bedroom, and saw the other occupants there. Dr. Whitespade was standing next to the dresser, arms crossed with his usual scowl on his scarred face but his posture was less tense than he usually would be. Near the door, Reginald and RHM were on some chairs they brought in from one of the other rooms. Reginald was busy signing some documents while RHM was watching the couple with a diligent look.

He turned his attention back to Dr. Clara as she looked through her notes on her clipboard. “I will get straight to the point Oliver.” She said in her usual blunt tone. “You have been pushing not only your body to the limit, but your mental state is reaching its limit as well. You have not slept properly, you have not eaten properly, and you have not allowed yourself the relief of just doing nothing to calm your turbulent mind. Am I correct in assuming this?” 

Oliver closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Yes…”

The older female doctor shook her head and let out her own tired sigh. “Why did you not take paternity leave when I told you to?” She asked and gestured back to the chief. “Reginald was willing to give it to you and Trent when the twins were born. And from what I was told, you are still given some sort of monetary compensation while on paternity leave.”

“I…I just wanted to make sure that…” He took in a shuddering breath and lowered his head, trying to hide himself away from everyone. “I just wanted to keep them safe.”

“From what?” RHM asked, raising an eyebrow.

“O-Or from who, n-nyeh?” Reginald asked quietly, gripping his pen tightly in his hand. “You are safe here, Oliver. A-And so is your family. What do you think could possibly hurt you here, nyeh?”

He stayed quiet for a moment before he gave his answer, unsuccessfully hiding his tears. “F-From me…”

The chief and his right hand’s eyes widened, but the doctors were not shocked or surprised by his answer. Trent just stared at Oliver, an unreadable emotion on his face. After a few moments, Dr. Clara moved next to Oliver and gently placed a hand on his right shoulder.

“I don’t know what’s been going on with you recently, but I will make this clear.” She said, gripping his shoulder as her gray eyes burned like a fire. “You are to take paternity leave with Trent. You are to focus and take care of your children. And you must take care of yourself. If you struggle, you must ask for help. This isn’t something you can just do by yourself, Oliver. There are people here who genuinely love and care for your wellbeing. I’ll be damned if they didn’t break down hearing what you’re doing to yourself.”

She stood up again and walked over to her protegee, packing away her things. “That being said, I suggest that you and Trent talk about what has been bothering you both.” She clipped her bag shut and turned to face the couple once more. “I will come back in three days to check up on you and your twins. Am I clear?”

All Oliver and Trent could do was nod at her, too tired to talk and too tired to argue with the woman who had once brought them back from the dead. Something they never really talked about with anyone except with her and Whitespade. Trent carefully leaned against Oliver, careful not to put too much weight on him, his body sagging against the pillows like a doll thrown on the bed, hiding his face from his husband. Although Oliver still wasn’t saying anything, he leaned his head against Trent’s, sniffling as some tears fell with his husband’s hidden tears.

Dr. Clara’s hardened features softened just a little before she turned around and left through the door. Dr. Whitespade waited until he pushed himself off the wall, hands in his pockets, and followed after his mentor.

“Although I am your main doctor, therapy is more of Dr. Clara’s field.” The gruff doctor said. “I will be back with her, but to check on the kids…and talk with your family and friends, should they have any questions at all.”

Once the doctor left, Reginald and RHM stood up and followed suit. But before the chief stepped out of the room, he turned around with his hands clasped together, as if he was making a plea similar to what Matilda had done earlier.

“Oliver, I-I know things have been…rough lately.” Reginald said. “But please know, Right and I are here for you and Trent, should you ever need it. M-My door is always open to you, nyeh. I’m…I’m sorry if I’ve never said it before, but you are truly one of our best Toppats in the clan. You and your husband…”

As he turned to leave, he heard the taller man’s soft, raspy voice call out, “Thank you…for everything…”

Reginald stopped for just a moment before he took in a deep breath and let it go, leaving the room and closing the bedroom door behind him. He adjusted his two top hats and took his cane from Right Hand Man before looking at him. 

“L-Let’s go find the others, nyeh.” He said as he slipped his arm with his. “They’ll need to know w-what’s going on.”

─────────────────

The two men sat together in silence, unable to come up with anything to say or even know what they should say to the other. Even in the dimly lit bedroom, with a candle that was lit earlier slowly burning on the dresser being one of their only other light sources, they were at a loss for words. 

Oliver didn’t know how long they sat together on their bed, but he knew it was long enough for Trent to leave multiple times to check on the kids. When he was left alone, the few seconds he had to himself, he tried to think of something to say. Apologize to his husband, promise to be a better father for the kids, promise to be a better Toppat for everyone else. There was something he had to say, they couldn’t just keep it all shoved under a rug. He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before–

“There he is, there’s your dada.”

He opened his eyes as soon as he heard the giggling of his children. Trent was holding both Aurelia and Florence in his arms, giving the other man a small smile. As he walked back inside, the two musical devices, Crumb and Morsel followed behind, pushing in the crib from the other room.

“H-How, what?” Oliver voiced and pushed himself up, watching Trent come back to his side of the bed. “The crib, how are they–”

“I just used my magic dear. I’ll put it back when we have to.” Trent responded, settling down next to his husband. He looked down at his kids, who were babbling loudly and looking at Oliver with wide big eyes, and smiled. “I just thought…you wanted to see them after your mission.”

There was a part of him screaming and begging him to not touch the kids. He didn’t have his arms, how could he hold them properly, how could he even hug them? They would be freaked out by his lack of arms, they would run away from him, they would scream and scream–

“The only thing they want from you is to feel safe and loved. You will have plenty of time to explain about your arms, but there is more time for them to love you for who you are, my son.”

Oliver blinked and tilted his head to the side, listening to the calm and deep voice. “I…you’re right…” He mumbled before he looked back up at Trent. Still not trusting himself to say anything, he nodded at him.

Despite the turmoil that the two of them were going through, the harmony of their magic still let them communicate in their own way. Carefully, Oliver moved towards his right giving Trent enough space to place both Aurelia and Florence on the bed, laying them on their stomachs. The babies cooed and rolled back and forth from their stomach to their backs, before looking up at Oliver with wide-eyed curious faces. In just seconds, Aurelia cried happily and loudly and pushed herself closer to her father. 

Oliver grunted when he felt his daughter headbutt him in the side, making him chuckle for the first time that day. “Careful, my little music note.” He said to her, moving to lay on his side to face his twins better. “You don’t want to hurt yourself or your brother, hm?”

She only giggled and scooted herself more forward, leaning her entire small weight against his chest. Florence followed after his sister, giggling the entire way, and pressed himself against his father’s chest, curling up right next to his sister and grabbed her hand with his.

He felt their combined vibrations on his chest as he watched their unconditional love for one another, and suddenly he was choking back his tears. Oliver tried to cover his face into the pillows, but Trent reached over and gently placed his hand on his cheek, the side where most of it was scarred. Without saying another word, Oliver blinked and let his tears fall, one after the other, and curled up some more while being careful of the babies. He sobbed quietly, letting Trent brush away each and every tear that fell while he looked at his husband with a somber look.

Oliver could sense the way his lover was looking at him, but he could also tell his children were looking at him with confused looks. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and let it go, before he started to sing a lullaby to the twins.

It was a lullaby he remembered his father sang to him, a song about a young child walking hand in hand with their parents, telling them every single thing they loved about them. The twins struggled to keep their eyes open and keep listening to their father’s soothing voice, but as soon as their other father joined in, singing the parents’ verse about every single thing they loved about their child, both Aurelia and Florence yawned together and closed their eyes, lulled to sleep by their fathers’ harmony once more. 

Once they were finished, Trent carefully picked up the twins once more and placed a kiss on their foreheads each. He looked up at his husband, smiling a little. Oliver still wasn’t sure but he still pushed himself up and leaned forward, placing his own kisses on their foreheads each. Before he pulled away, he whistled out a few notes softly. The music notes, as big as the babies’ heads, combined together to create two pairs of ear muffs. Each pair was carefully placed on the sleeping baby, both unbothered by the action.

After Trent got the twins settled back into their crib, he looked over at the two magical musical devices and their pets. “Thank you, all of you for watching over them.” He said, reaching down to rub the top of Crumb’s head. “Go and rest, you’ve earned it.”

Echo and Jingle breathed their own sighs of relief and waddled over to the dresser. They both helped each other up to the top before settling into a “sleep” mode, grateful for the time to recharge. As for the two pets, Crumb wrapped herself around one of the crib’s legs and made herself comfortable, while Morsel walked over to his friend and sat next to her, snoozing away as soon as she fell asleep.

With everyone in the room, aside from them, now resting, both fathers looked at each other. Through their intertwined magic, there were many, many unspoken questions floating around them, and they were both unsure of where to begin. But there was one that Trent needed to know the answer or answers to.

Trent carefully laid on his side of the bed and looked at Oliver with a troubled look. “When I tried to call you and Morsel answered it for you, I…I heard you talking to someone.” He started, a waver in his voice as he tried to hold himself together. He swallowed before asking, “Who were you talking to, Oliver?”

That was one question he didn’t want to answer first, but it was better than asking him the one he thought he would ask. Oliver propped himself up one more time, turning to his husband as he did. “I…I was talking to my parents. To my mom and my dad…Mostly shouting at mom to stop saying the things she was saying…”

Trent’s brown eyes widened before they softened, holding himself back from crying. “Oh, Ollie. When did you start hearing their voices?”

“A-After our argument, three weeks ago.” Oliver frowned sadly as he brought his knees up and he pressed his forehead against them. “I knew I should have gone to the Medbay and spoken with one of the doctors, or even called Whitespade about what was happening. But I couldn’t…I couldn’t fight back against whatever she was saying…I couldn’t because she was right…”

“Don’t say that.” Trent reached out to Oliver, a hand on his shoulder and a hand on his upper arm. “Please, don’t say that. Whatever that voice was telling you, it’s not true.”

Oliver just shook his head, refusing to look at Trent. “I kept doing the missions to get away from you and the kids, because I knew I was going to hurt them badly!” He said back, his voice laced with more of his tears. “I’m just going to hurt them, Trent. I couldn’t even feed one of them properly, I could have messed up and drowned him with the formula. I had to have Caly help me feed them, and she’s uncomfortable with handling baby stuff! I’m just an inconvenience…”

Trent frowned and sat right next to Oliver, the movement actually pushing Oliver off the bed for a moment. With his head up, Trent reached out and forced Oliver to look at him, both of his hands holding his face.

“If she was uncomfortable, why did she still help you? She could have called for Matilda or even Geoffrey, but she still stayed and helped you. She put aside her own needs to help you with yours, because she probably knew you were scared.” Trent said. “I was scared too, I was afraid of hurting our own children, but I managed to get over that fear. Because of you.”

He blinked. “Me?”

“Yes.” Trent breathed, letting his shoulders shake before he gently pressed his forehead against Oliver’s, continuing in a soft voice, “Because when I was pregnant, you always comforted me when I needed it. You reassured me that I would be a wonderful father to our kids, because I enjoy and love taking care of the Toppat kids. You were patient with me when I was emotional, when I was angry, when I was depressed, when I was just all over the place–You withstood everything I said and did. And you could have left at any point–yet you are still here with me. Here you are, worried about me, worried about your kids, worried about our clan, you thought it would be better to just hide your feelings and needs. But it isn’t better.”

Oliver pulled out of Trent’s grasp, gently, before he looked down at the bed sheets, wishing to grip them as hard as possible. “But, you said I’m not doing enough.”

“And that was wrong of me to say. It was wrong of me to say that to you, especially with what was troubling you.” Trent said. “In the time you needed me to support you, just like you did for me, I instead brought you down and made you feel like you couldn’t do anything. That anything you did wasn’t enough, but it is enough. You’re always enough to me, Oliver. Everything you do, I know you always try to do your best. You always give your everything to help those around you. You didn’t need to hear me say that, especially when you needed my help. I am so sorry, luv, I am so sorry Oliver. I shouldn’t have lost myself like that…”

Trent wiped away his tears, as he sobbed and cried, finally letting his own reservoir drain of its water. How long he had been holding back, even he wasn’t so sure. As he rubbed his wet cheek with his hand, he hiccuped when he felt something push underneath his chin and into his neck.

He looked down with a small gasp and saw the back of his husband’s head, only being able to see his long black hair and his back. Trent slowly wrapped his arms around Oliver, leaning his head forward to rest on top of Oliver’s. “Luv…”

Oliver looked up at him, silent in his contemplation. Then, he asked, “Why did you lash out at me? Did…Did I really do something wrong?”

His husband sighed, frowning sadly. “No, no you didn’t do anything wrong, Oliver. I was just…I was just upset, but not at you.” He explained as he started to thread his fingers through his husband’s long, black hair with a soft hum. “After the first night we came back with the twins, I still wasn’t feeling like myself. Both physically and mentally. I still felt tired, I kept having these bad migraines that didn’t help with the kids waking up in the middle of the night, and my emotions were just…I just didn’t feel right.”

Oliver hummed, moving to the side a bit so he wasn’t putting his whole weight on Trent. “I remember how you were feeling. It always felt like ice being dropped down the back of my shirt. Sometimes it’s a nice feeling, but other times I don't want to feel it.” He frowned a little. “But I don’t blame you for how you felt. I knew having to go back and forth from our room to the Medbay was difficult and exhausting.”

“That still doesn’t excuse what I said to you. Or how I texted you earlier today. I don’t blame you for being annoyed with me with the last few texts you sent.”

Oliver grimaced and closed his eyes. “I-I wasn’t annoyed…I was scared.” He took in a breath, shakily with a sob, before releasing it. “I was scared that you…that you were going to stop loving me, because I came back later than I should have…and because I kept doing the missions instead of being with you and the kids.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Trent continued to run his fingers through Oliver’s hair, sometimes humming a note or two, while Oliver let out small sobs as more of his tears fell. He didn’t realize how much he had been holding back until today, and he felt anger towards himself for not realizing it.

“You do tend to hide your emotions better than others, but that does come with the side effect of not being able to open up easily. You allow others to open up to you, but you must give yourself that same opportunity.”

“...To open myself up to others?”

“Precisely. You deserve the same kindness you give to others, my son.”

Oliver blinked. Part of him hoped he wasn’t going crazy from hearing what he believed what he thought was his father’s voice, but another part of him knew this was just his way to cope with everything he was feeling; a small part of him was relieved to hear his father’s voice ever since he heard of the news of what happened to him.

He moved his focus away from his thoughts back to his husband’s movement. His ears perked up when he listened to what he was softly humming. It made Oliver giggle and press his head against his chest with a small smile. This caught Trent’s attention, who opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at his husband. 

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

Oliver shook his head. “Not funny. More of…more that I love it when you do this.” He said softly.

“Do what?”

“When you play with my hair like a harp, and you sing one of your favorite songs when you do so.” He said, looking up at him with adoration. “It’s one of my favorite things you do, and…I really appreciate it when you hold me like this…”

If Trent’s heart could burst out of his chest to show his love for his partner, it definitely would have happened at this moment. Instead, he pulled Oliver closer to him and kissed the top of his head, hugging him as best he could. “You do the same for me when I need it, so I always want to return that love you show to me.” He said, reaching down to caress Oliver’s face. “I love you, Oliver. I’m so sorry again for how I’ve been treating you these past few weeks. It wasn’t fair to you, or the kids, so I’m going to make sure this won’t happen again.”

Oliver was quiet for a moment before he sat up and moved closer to his husband. “It’s okay, Trent.” He said, wrapping his stubs around Trent’s neck while he pressed his forehead against his. “I do still feel hurt from what happened, but now I know why it did happen. I’ll help you work on it, so you don’t feel like you have to hide it.” He sighed, moving away so their eyes could meet. “But I am sorry for staying quiet about how I was really feeling. I should have trusted you more to listen to what I had to say, especially if it was really hurting me. I know we need time apart after we’ve had an argument, but it shouldn’t have been this long. I’ll…I’ll make sure to work on being more open with how I’m feeling with you.”

Trent smiled at him. “I forgive you, luv.” He said smiling, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “I know you have trouble with your emotions, especially the ones that are very personal with you, but I will help you work on that.” He pulled Oliver into a hug, resting his head on his right shoulder. “ No matter what, we’re in this together, singing from one song to the other–”

“–Until the end of our melodies have been sung.” Oliver finished, squeezing his husband back as best he could. He let out a shaky sigh of relief, sniffling. “I love you too, Trent.”

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, humming a melody together and letting their magic intertwine once again. This time, Trent’s eyes opened when he felt something was off.

“Oliver…The mission that you were on…” Trent started before he sighed, pulling out of the hug. “That mission you were just on, it was what caused your breakdown, wasn’t it?”

Oliver silently nodded, looking the other way while trying to hide himself away from his husband. But remembering what they had just promised, he turned back to his husband and nodded over to the end of the bed.

“I’ll tell you…but can you help put my prosthetics back on?” He let out a sigh. “I…I want to hold your hand when I tell you.”

Trent smiled with a nod. “Of course, dear. Anything for you.”

It took a few minutes for the husbands to get Oliver’s arms back, but when they were finished Oliver was ready to tell Trent about the mission. As ready as he’ll ever be at least.

Trent laid back down on the bed, propping the pillows up behind him so he was a bit more comfortable. Oliver followed after him, after putting on one of Trent’s shirts, and laid on his back over Trent’s body. The short-haired man hummed as he let his husband get comfortable in-between his legs and rest his head on his chest. His left hand reached down to grasp Oliver’s left, while his right hand started running his fingers through his hair again. Oliver’s right hand joined his left hand in holding Trent’s hand, gripping it tightly.

Oliver closed his eyes and leaned his cheek against Trent’s, a somber frown on his face. “The mission did go well but what happened earlier made me question if…if I’m still cut out for this or not…”

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He had been tasked with freeing the Toppats captured by the Government, while another part of his team took back the items that they had stolen from the Government and from the museums. Everyone followed him, Kabbitz, Hanz and Sledge to do their respective duties, and Accordion became the prime example of what a Toppat should be doing on a mission to get back their stolen goods, and their colleagues. 

He fought through hoards of soldiers as he freed one Toppat after the other, pushed back against wave after wave of officers trying to slow him and the others down, and weaved and dodged every attempt by a soldier to catch him. He was too lithe, fast, elusive for them to grab, which stumped and stunned many soldiers, veterans and fresh meat alike. He was a giant compared to the others, how could they avoid him every time?!

Through the chaos that unfolded, the gunfire and bullets dancing over their heads, the desperate pleas to their commander passed down from one body to the next, Accordion felt nothing for these people. He felt nothing for the people he threw to the ground or against the walls by his own metal hands, never flinched by brittle and strong bones being broken and crushed by his fingers, every one of them curled around limb after limb. It was all another song sung by different artists of one company, but he still knew the lyrics by heart as it kept him going, kept him focused and sane as he fought for his fellow Toppats’ freedom. 

It kept him from remembering what happened before he was teleported off the station and onto Earth. It kept him from thinking about his husband and his kids, and what he might accidentally do if he stayed for even one more minute around them. He never wanted any harm to happen to them, especially if it came from him…

His mission came to a full sudden stop, a record scratch in an empty room that bounced and echoed off the stone prison walls. Accordion had paid no attention when he broke the bars to the last remaining cell, the Toppat squeaking out a high-pitched ‘thank you!’ before he turned around and grabbed one of the artists sneaking up behind him. He slammed the artist–it’s a soldier, goddamnit–against the wall, the back of their head hitting a particular patch that was jagged and sharp. Blood ran down the wall, being absorbed by the rocky surface and letting it stay still forever as a stain, and down the back of the soldier’s neck. Even as it stained his dark blue gloves, Accordion started to close his hand around their frail thin neck, their dog tags jingling noiselessly to their quickened heartbeat.

Before he could mark a remark, snarl or even taunt the soldier, to make them remember in their afterlife the face of who would kill them, the soldier whimpered out a line with the last of the oxygen stored in their lungs, mustering a plea familiar to his ears.

“P-Please…please have mercy. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what I’ve d-done! I’m so sorry!” 

He froze, time stopping between the two of them. Those words, that voice, the tune…Those weren’t the lyrics to the song of the chaos going on. Those words…a song buried a long time ago, bridges burned and a new life started…those were his words to his own song.

“Please…please have mercy mom! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Accordion took a step back, dropping the injured soldier as he did. As the soldier groaned and sputtered back to his second chance of life, Accordion’s eye caught the single gold bar, lined with blue, stitched on the left shoulder of the soldier’s jacket. His attention traveled up to the face hidden by the shadow of his beret until the soldier’s young eyes caught his own.

The Toppat’s entire face, having been numb and static throughout the entire duration of that chaos, contorted into one of horror and recognition. The slow creep of realizing what he had done to this soldier, what he had almost done to them, suddenly washed over his entire being. 

“Accordion! ACCORDION!” 

Kabbitz’s angered but panicked voice couldn’t stop him from kneeling down and moving the soldier’s shoulder, gently, to try and look at their face to see if he did recognize them. Every soldier he had faced was different, but this one, yes, yes he did know this one. This one was very recent. They kept showing up at these missions to prove himself to his commander, to prove he had enough worth to serve his country and to his General. And now, as he moved his bloodied glove away from their body, this soldier was still trying to stand and fight, feeling his want and hope to be recognized as a worthy soldier. As a worthy person to live.

But he was not just a soldier. No, to Accordion he was the twin of another soldier that always joined him in these missions. Twins that he had grown to recognize as the pair they were, and as their own individuals. Twins that he had…developed a soft spot for…

He couldn’t bring himself to end this soldier’s song, to cut off the harmony between him and his brother. Not when the song of his past started to overtake and whisper into his ear the verses, the bridges, and chorus of a life he tried to leave behind–

“ACCORDION WE HAVE TO GO NOW!”

Kabbitz had broken through one of the prison walls to reach him, and his voice, booming over every sound in the hallway, finally broke through the other enforcer’s thoughts. He freed himself from the spot he put himself in, but it didn’t stop the tears falling down his cheeks like heavy rain drops. When they started falling he wasn’t sure, but it was enough for the soldier lying in pain on the ground to stop moving and look up in shock. His orange eyebrows creased in disbelief and the corners of his lips pulled down in a frown, but his eyes showed a sliver of concern for his enemy.

Before he could reach out or even utter a word, the tall Toppat in red vanished in the blink of an eye. Although he couldn’t see him, he could hear his heavy footsteps race down the hallway, fading from his earshot as another pair of footsteps ran towards him from the opposite end.

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“I-I don’t know why I let him go, I don’t know why I didn’t try to kill him” Oliver sputtered, fresh tears running down his cheeks. “B-But he just…his face reminded me of me when I was younger, when mom beat me for failing at anything she asked me to do. And at that moment…I t-truly felt like I was her. A-And I just…just–”

His throat closed up and he closed his eyes, letting out a whimper and hurtful moan. He wanted to keep talking, to keep saying what was on his mind, but everything he had felt before had returned. His self-hatred for becoming like his mom, for failing at one simple task that wasn’t even asked of him, for letting his emotions control him when they weren’t supposed to–

“You feel like a failure.” Trent finished for him, eyebrows furrowed as he could feel his partner’s self-loathing soaking into his skin. He moved some of Oliver’s hair from his face, humming. “But you’re not a failure, Oliver. You told me he has a twin brother, right?”

“R-Right…”

“And now that we have Aurelia and Florence, part of you didn’t want to kill him because of how his own brother would feel, right?”

He was silent for a moment before he looked up and nodded at Trent. “They don’t like being apart from each other, no matter what…”

Trent reached down to press his hand against his husband’s cheek. “Then letting him live doesn’t make you a failure, Oliver. It makes you human, it makes you someone who still finds compassion for his enemy, especially if they are new to their jobs.” He said in a soothing voice, rubbing his thumb against his cheek. “Yes, he may have been part of the Government, but knowing you didn’t kill him makes me happy, luv.”

Oliver sniffed and rubbed his nose with his hand. “How come?”

“Because it means that no matter what, your love still pushes through the cold and hard barriers you put up. Maybe sometimes you do have to hold back your love to do what is right for the clan, but you know when to show mercy for those who don’t deserve your hatred. Your mother never did any of that. But your father did what he could to spare you from her hands. Even if it wasn’t enough, he still tried to help you because he still loved you.”

Oliver pondered over his words with a hum, his left thumb rubbing against the back of Trent’s hand. “So…you’re saying I’m not like her…but I’m more like my dad?”

Trent tilted his head, humming back. “I guess so. But you have done more than what he could, despite the setbacks you’ve faced. I’m sure he would be proud of that.”

“I’m always proud of you no matter what, Oliver.” The soft and gentle deep voice spoke in his mind. As it started to fade away, the voice gave its final words to him. “Do what you must do to protect your family, friends, and your clan. But never let yourself fall into your hatred. Your love is much more powerful than you know. I love you, Oliver, my son. Please…take care of yourself.”

The taller man closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief and smiled as tears fell down his cheeks. “I will dad…” He mumbled to himself, squeezing Trent’s hand in his.

His husband smiled softly and he leaned down to place another kiss on top of his forehead. “There is one thing you should know, my luv.” He said quietly, a glint in his brown eyes. “Something that has always drawn me to you, no matter what.”

Oliver snorted, opening his eyes. “Was my good looks not enough?” He asked with a smirk. “Or was me fumbling my way through life and making a bunch of mistakes too much?”

Trent chuckled. “No, you silly goose!” He said. He leaned back and got Oliver to sit next to him. As he did, he leaned his head on his left shoulder, intertwining their fingers together. 

“You know I love you for everything you are.”

“Mistakes and all?”

“Mistakes and all.”

Oliver blinked, tilting his head. “I love you for who you are as well, Trent. Mistakes and all.” He said. “But, why are you telling me this in this way?”

“Because to me, you are love, Oliver. You are the love that I am drawn to each and every day, you are the love that other people seek out when they need it, and you let them in with open arms, no hesitation. You give your love to those who need it, and they give it back to you in their own special way.” He said and reached up to place his hand over his husband’s chest. “And, forgive me if this is so cheesy, I’m proud to call you my home. My home is made up of love, and it is made of your love and mine.”

As Trent closed his eyes, he suddenly felt Oliver’s shoulders shaking. He opened his eyes and looked up, watching his husband taking rapid breaths as he started to cry loudly, tears falling faster than a rapid waterfall. Before he could do anything, Oliver pulled him close into a tight hug, burying his face into the crook of his neck.

“Thank you…thank you, Trent.” He stuttered with a smile. “That means…everything to me…You and everyone else mean everything to me…I love you so much.”

Trent hugged him back, smiling as his own tears started falling in time with his husband’s. “I love you too, Oliver.” He whispered back.

The two husbands stayed close to each other, letting sleep take them away into their dreams, knowing they would have time to help each other fix what needed to be fixed. Not just for themselves, but for their kids, family, friends, and co-workers. It was a life of their own that was just getting started after all.

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(Epilogue: Coming Soon)